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Contents
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
How To Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
PART 1: OVERVIEW OF THE SAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What Is the SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
What Is the New SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
How Does the New SAT Differ from the Old SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Why Do I Need to Take the SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
What Do I Need to Take the SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
When Do I Take the SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How Do I Register for the SAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
How Do I Get My Score? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Five Great Ways to Prepare for the SAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Multiple-Choice Questions: Should You Guess? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
PART 2: DIAGNOSTIC VERBAL SAT AND ANSWER KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
General Directions for the Diagnostic Verbal SAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Section 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Section 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
v
vi
Contents
Section 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Section 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Section 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Diagnostic Verbal SAT Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
PART 3: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
ON THE CRITICAL READING TEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
What Strategy Should I Use? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
How Can I Figure Out What a Passage Means? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
How Do I Answer Vocabulary Questions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
How Do I Answer Questions on Style? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Practice Critical Reading Passages and Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
PART 4: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
ON SENTENCE COMPLETIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
What Are Sentence Completion Test Items? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
The Basic Five-Step Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Strategies for Tackling Sentence Completion Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Using Contrast Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Using Support Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Using Summary Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Using Cause-and-Effect Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Practice SAT Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
PART 5: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
ON THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE WRITING QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
What Are the Multiple-Choice Writing Items? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
The Basic Five-Step Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Contents
How Do I Get a High Score on Identifying Sentence Error
Questions and Improving Sentence Error Questions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
How Do I Get a High Score on Improving Paragraph Questions? . . . . . . 109
Practice Multiple-Choice Writing Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
PART 6: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
ON THE ESSAY QUESTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
What Will I Be Required to Write? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
What Are the Qualities of a Successful Essay? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
How Are the Essays Scored? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Top-Ten Hints for High-Scoring Essays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
How to Write a High-Scoring Persuasive SAT Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
How to Write a High-Scoring Expository SAT Essay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Practice Writing Prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
PART 7: TWO SAMPLE VERBAL SAT TESTS FOR PRACTICE . . . . . . . . . 147
Practice Test 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Practice Test 1 Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Practice Test 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Practice Test 2 Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
vii
How To Use This Book
How To Use This Book
No matter how you decide to study, be systematic in your approach. Set up a
routine and stick with it. I recommend that you study for a set amount of time
every single day, at the same time. Aim for about half an hour a day, but be
sure to start early enough in the year to get through this entire book.
Cramming the last week may help you pick up some useful test-taking techniques, but it won’t help you raise your scores as much as a sustained course of
study will.
The following method has proven successful for many students:
1. Work through the book from start to finish.
2. As you work, analyze your test scores to figure out which aspects of the test
proved the easiest for you and which the most difficult. For example, did
you find sentence completions easier than critical reading? Did you have a
difficult time writing the essay?
3. Isolate the areas where you need more practice.
4. Concentrate on improving those skills. Go back to those sections of the
book, review the material, and work through the test questions again.
5. Stick with it. Make a commitment to study and improve your skills.
xi
Preface
Preface
Although college admissions counselors weigh many factors when they evaluate your application—your grades, classes, extracurricular activities, letters of
recommendation, personal statements, and SAT scores–the SAT scores are the
most dependable element in your application. Grades are inflated; class
descriptions can be misleading. You know that descriptions of service time may
not accurately reflect your contributions, and teachers do not always express
themselves clearly in writing. Further, you may have received help writing your
personal statements. While far from perfect, the SATs are the most constant
measure available to admissions counselors. As a result, college admissions
counselors are increasingly giving your SAT scores a great deal of weight.
Adding a writing component to the English part of the SAT just adds to its
significance.
This book will help you become familiar with the SAT English test. Working
through the model test questions, taking sample SAT English tests, and analyzing the answers and explanations will help you increase your speed, comprehension, and test scores. In addition, the in-depth writing instruction will
better prepare you for writing the new SAT essay. Here’s a bonus: As you learn
to write for the SAT, you’ll also master the skills that you need for success in all
college—and real-life—writing assignments.
In addition, this book provides useful test-taking tips that will help you
make the most of your study time and find the test-taking approaches that
work best for you. Doing well on the SAT English test is well within your
reach. It just takes some practice and determination.
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McGraw-Hill’s
SAT 2400!
A Sneak Preview
of the New SAT I
Verbal Section
P A R T
1
Overview of the SAT
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
PART 1: Overview of the SAT
Overview of the SAT
What Is the SAT?
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is a standardized test used by many
colleges and universities as part of the admissions process. It is the most
widely used college entrance exam. About 75 million Americans have taken
the SAT for college admission since the Scholastic Aptitude Test (as it was
then known) was first administered in 1926. In 2000–2001 alone, more than
2 million students took the SAT, which is given several times a year at different
locations worldwide.
What Is the New SAT?
Starting in March 2005, the SAT will undergo the most drastic changes in its
history. The total point count zooms from 1600 to 2400, analogies and quantitative comparisons will be dropped, and the math section will be expanded to
include topics from Algebra II. Most radical of all, a new Writing section will
be added. This section will require students to write an essay as well as answer
multiple-choice questions about grammar, usage, and style. The new SAT will
test three key areas of academic preparation—reading, writing, and math.
The Critical Reading Test
The old SAT Verbal section will become the new SAT Critical Reading section.
It will now include a greater emphasis on analytical reading with passages
from natural sciences, humanities, and social studies. Shorter reading passages are being added in place of the analogies. The sentence completion
questions remain.
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
The New Writing Test
As the scoring scale indicates, the greatest change is the addition of the new writing component. Described by College Board officials as a way to “improve predictive validity” and “encourage writing in the schools,” the new Writing section
allows students another way to show they are prepared to do college-level work.
The new Writing test is 50 minutes long. During that time, you will have to
write one essay (25 minutes) and answer multiple-choice questions (25 minutes)
on improving sentences and paragraphs and identifying errors in diction,
subject-verb agreement, proper word usage, and precision in writing.
How Does the New SAT Differ from the Old SAT?
The following box summarizes the changes you can expect on the Critical
Reading test.
CRITICAL READING TEST
Old SAT Length
New SAT Length
Time
75 minutes
70 minutes
Form
Two 30-minute sections
One 15-minute section
Two 25-minute sections
One 15-minute section
Content
Analogies
Sentence completions
Long critical reading passages
Sentence completions
Short critical reading passages
Long critical reading passages
Score
200–800
200–800
The following box summarizes the new Writing test. This part does not
appear on the current SAT.
WRITING TEST
Component
Time
Content
Essay
25 minutes
Organize your ideas, express
your ideas clearly, support the
main idea, use standard written
English
Multiple-choice
questions
25 minutes
Identify errors in grammar,
mechanics, usage, and style;
improve sentences and
paragraphs
Note: The College Board has not yet announced the number of multiplechoice questions on this part and how much each question will be worth.
PART 1: Overview of the SAT
The following box summarizes the overall changes to the SAT.
OVERALL CHANGES
Old SAT Scoring Scale
New SAT Scoring Scale
Verbal: 200–800
Verbal: 200–800
Math: 200–800
Math: 200–800
New Writing section: 200–800
Total score: 400–1600
Total score: 600–2400
Why Do I Need to Take the SAT?
The move to revise the SAT was prompted by a number of college presidents
and other academic officials who argued that the test assesses intelligence
rather than achievement. Some of these leaders have argued that the SAT
should be abolished; as a result, a handful of colleges have announced that the
SAT will no longer be required for admission to their institutions.
So how much does the SAT really count when it comes to getting into the
college of your choice? The best answer seems to be that despite the drive for
reform, your score on the SAT still counts—a lot.
According to an article in U.S. News and World Report, most state colleges
and universities admit most of their students based on the students’ grades and
percent SAT scores. At the University of Georgia, for example, about 33 percent
of the admissions decisions are based on SAT scores (11/11/02, p. 56).
According to the Educational Testing Service’s website, nearly 80 percent of
four-year colleges and universities use test scores in admissions decisions.
Many officials at small, select liberal arts colleges claim that their admissions
decisions are based on many factors other than SAT scores. Nonetheless,
despite all the talk about the importance of extracurricular activities, letters of
recommendation, and being well-rounded, don’t fool yourself for a moment:
SAT scores often count far more than officials admit. Most colleges go with
SAT scores because they offer one of the few objective measurements for comparing students from widely different academic backgrounds. As the director of
undergraduate admissions at Duke University put it: “We find it [your SAT
score] useful . . . because it does what it says it does. It adds to our ability to
predict grades.” (U.S. News and World Report, 11/11/02, p. 56.)
Your score on the SAT doesn’t determine how well you will do in life.
However, your score on the SAT does sharply correlate with your success during
your freshman year in college, at least. It also provides a rough but accurate
measure of how well you will do overall in your college work. That’s because
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
the SAT tests the skills you need to succeed in college: critical reading, clear
writing, and computational abilities.
So don’t fool yourself: your score on the SAT counts—a great deal.
What Do I Need to Take the SAT?
In addition to paying the registration fee (currently $26, but likely to go up by
$10–$12), you will need the following items to take the test:
■
Your admissions ticket
■
A photo ID
■
Sharpened number 2 pencils and an eraser
■
An approved calculator
■
A watch
When Do I Take the SAT?
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) administers the SAT. The test is given on
Saturday mornings seven times a year: October, November, December, January,
April, May, and June. The test is offered at different test centers, usually
schools. The test is also offered on Sunday for those whose religion prohibits
activity on Saturday.
Most students take the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) in
tenth grade. The PSAT is a practice test for the SAT. However, the score may
determine whether or not you are eligible for a National Merit Scholarship, so
this test has ramifications as well.
Before you sign up for a specific test date, choose a number of colleges that
offer your major, are within your price range, and match your abilities. Contact
these colleges to find out their deadlines for receiving scores. This is especially
critical if you are contemplating applying to a college through the Early
Decision or Early Action programs. These programs have earlier deadlines for
receipt of scores than do traditional application processes.
■
If you plan to apply for Early Decision, take the SAT at the end of your
junior year.
■
If you plan to apply for regular consideration, you may take the SAT in
October of your senior year.
Most students take the SAT more than once to help them improve their scores.
PART 1: Overview of the SAT
How Do I Register for the SAT?
You can obtain registration forms in several ways.
1. Contact the Educational Testing Service online at [email protected]. You
cannot register online if
•
•
•
•
You need services for students with disabilities
You are younger than 13
You are registering the first time for Sunday testing
You are testing in certain countries (including Taiwan, Nigeria, Benin,
Togo, Ghana, and Kenya)
2. Write to the Educational Testing Service.
Corporate Headquarters:
Educational Testing Service
Rosedale Road
Princeton, NJ 08541
Phone: 609-921-9000
California Office:
Educational Testing Service
Western Field Office
2731 Systron Drive
Concord, CA 94518
Phone: 925-808-2000
Florida Office:
Region XIV Comprehensive Center at ETS
1000 N. Ashley Dr.
Suite 312
Tampa, FL 33602
Phone: 813-275-0122
Puerto Rico Office:
Educational Testing Service
Suite 315
American International Plaza
250 Munoz Rivera Avenue
Hato Rey, PR 00918
Phone: 787-753-7426
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
Washington, D.C., Office:
Educational Testing Service
Office of State and Federal Relations
Suite 900
1800 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-659-8075
3. Obtain an application from your school’s guidance office.
The College Board will reduce fees for students who can demonstrate financial need.
Do not send money to the College Board. Your school’s guidance coordinator will have this
information.
How Do I Get My Score?
About six weeks after you take the SAT, your scores will automatically be sent
to you and to the colleges you listed on your registration form. Your score will
include percentile ranks so you can see how you did compared to others taking
the test. You will also receive information about planning for college.
Five Great Ways to Prepare for the SAT
The following five suggestions can go a long way to improving your score.
1. Study. Contrary to what the people at ETS say, you can study for the
SAT—and you should. To make the most of your study time, get into a
study routine.
• Study every day.
• Study for at least 30 minutes.
• Turn off the television, radio, or CD player when you study. You will
always study better without distractions.
• Study at the same time and in the same place every day.
• Study the part of the test you find most difficult first, when you are
least tired.
• As you study, give yourself a break. Stretch every 15 minutes or so.
Practice on the SAT sample tests in this book to find out your strengths
and weaknesses. For example, if you have trouble writing an essay in the
time allocated, concentrate on learning this skill. Completing similar tests
will also help you learn how to make the best use of your time.
PART 1: Overview of the SAT
Don’t take the SAT “just for practice,” because your scores go on your permanent record.
Instead, practice on the tests in this book.
2. Analyze the test. To make the most of your study time, understand the SAT
completely. Since you have only a minute or so to complete each SAT question, you must know what you are going to encounter.
• Understand question order. Most SAT questions are arranged from easiest
to more difficult. For example, in the Sentence Completion section, the
first few questions may seem very easy, but then you’ll notice that the
questions get more and more difficult. The last questions are likely to be
very hard. Critical Reading is the only section in which the order of difficulty does not build from question to question.
• Learn the directions. Familiarize yourself with the directions ahead of
time. This way you won’t waste valuable time reading the directions on
the day of the actual test. You’ll get plenty of practice with the test directions as you take the practice tests in this book.
• Use process of elimination. Always look for ways to eliminate incorrect
answers. Remember, every time you eliminate an answer choice, your
chance of picking the correct answer improves. You’ll find more on the
process of elimination in the next section, The Multiple-Choice
Questions: Should You Guess?
• Work quickly and steadily. Understand that you are not going to be able
to answer every question; that’s the way the test is designed. When you
realize that you’re not making any progress on a question, leave it
and move on. You’re just losing valuable time if you obsess over a few
questions.
• Keep track of your place on the answer sheet. If you skip a question, be very
careful to skip the corresponding space on your answer sheet. You don’t
want to get a low score because you filled out the answer sheet incorrectly.
3. Don’t cram. You might be tempted to compress all your study time into a
week or two before the SAT. While some study is better than no study at all,
you’re deluding yourself if you think you can master the SAT in a few
nights. You can’t. The SAT measures years of study, so cramming the night
before will probably get you nothing more than a headache.
4. Learn to pace yourself. As you study on your own every night, keep careful
watch of the time. Timing is especially critical when it comes to the Writing
test. On this part of the SAT, you will be graded on what you turn in: not
what you intended to turn in but didn’t get to finish. As you will learn later,
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
scorers are looking for well-crafted responses with a clear introduction,
body, and conclusion. Learning to write a good essay in 20 minutes isn’t
hard if you practice—it can be close to impossible if you don’t.
5. Prepare.
• Prepare the night before. Lay out your clothing, pens or pencils, watch, and
other test supplies. You don’t want to be rushing around in the morning.
• Choose comfortable clothing. Avoid itchy sweaters or starchy pants. Make
sure your clothes are loose and you’re comfortable so you can concentrate
on the test.
• Get a good night’s sleep. Believe it or not, a solid 8 hours of sleep can
recharge your batteries and give you the winning edge on any test.
• Be sure to eat breakfast. Eat a nourishing breakfast of cereal, fruit, and
toast. You might want to have eggs, French toast, or pancakes. Don’t make
do with a toaster pastry or donut.
• Wake up! If you’re a morning sleepyhead, wake yourself up with a shower,
a brief workout, or a short jog.
• Leave yourself enough time in the morning. Figure out how much time you
will need in the morning to get ready for the test—and then add an extra
15 minutes. If an emergency arises, you’ll have time to deal with it. If everything goes smoothly, you can relax for a few minutes at the test center.
The Multiple-Choice Questions: Should You Guess?
Should you guess wildly? No. Your score on the multiple-choice questions is
based on the number of questions you answer right minus a percentage for
incorrect answers. Here’s the math:
What You Do
What You Get
A correct answer
1 point
A blank
0 points
An incorrect answer
Minus 0.25 point
Therefore, just running down the page and filling in answers will probably not
help you earn a better grade. However, you do stand a good chance of improving your score if you make educated guesses. What’s an educated guess? That’s a
guess you make after you have eliminated one or more answer choices as definitely incorrect. Each time you eliminate an answer choice, your chances of
guessing correctly from the remaining choices go up.
PART 1: Overview of the SAT
Frequently Asked Questions
Before the Test
Q:
A:
When should I use this book?
Q:
A:
How should I use this book?
If possible, look at the book early in the year to familiarize yourself with
the test’s content and format. Then, as you learn specifics about writing
and rhetorical strategies, you can apply that knowledge to the test. If you
have just purchased the book and the test is around the corner, you can
still see marked benefits from reviewing the instructions and taking the
practice tests.
First, use the book to become completely familiar with the SAT content
and format. Know what kinds of questions you’ll be asked, how the exam
is graded, how much time you’ll have for each section, and so on.
Knowing what to expect can help greatly to reduce the fear factor.
As you work your way through this book, concentrate on the parts
of the test that present the greatest challenge for you. For example, if
you’re having trouble writing essays, spend most of your time reviewing
the essay section.
Q:
A:
How do you get a high score on the SAT?
Q:
A:
Does my seat at the test matter?
The same way you get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice!
Do all the practice tests in this book. Go over the answer explanations.
You’re far better off spending half an hour every day preparing for the
test than trying to cram it all in one week. Practice writing the essay.
Studies show that the best writers (like the best brain surgeons, auto
mechanics, and tightrope walkers) are the ones who practice the most.
Yes! Choose your seat carefully because sitting near friends during a test
can be disrupting. If you see your friends handing in their papers early,
you may feel pressured to do the same, even if you’re not yet finished with
the test.
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
During the Test
Q:
A:
Does listening to the proctor matter, or can I zone out for a minute?
Pay close attention to all directions. Even though you’ll be completely
familiar with the test format, the proctor may say something very important, such as about safety procedures in the event of a fire drill or an
actual fire.
Q:
A:
How should I budget my time?
Q:
A:
Are there any special words I should watch for?
Q:
A:
How should I mark my answers?
Q:
A:
Should I plan my essay or just start writing?
Q:
A:
How much should I write?
If you don’t complete a multiple-choice question in the time you have
allotted, leave it and move on. You can return to the question if you have
extra time at the end of the test.
On the multiple-choice questions, look for absolute words. These include
all, none, not, except. Misreading one of these little—but crucial—words
can trip you up, so be very careful with absolutes.
Even the best students can tank if they mismark their answer sheets. Be
especially careful if you skip a question. If you don’t skip that answer
space, then every answer that comes after will be wrong. To avoid this
problem, check frequently to make certain that the number of the question on your answer sheet corresponds to the number of the question in
your exam booklet.
Plan your answer carefully before you start to write. Think about the
major points that you want to make and the evidence you plan to include
to back up your assertions. Before you start writing your essay, be sure
that you understand the passage that you have to analyze.
Write enough to make your point clearly and completely. Quantity doesn’t
always equal quality, but brief essays rarely get top scores. Figure that
the essay should be at least three paragraphs, preferably four, and 350 to
PART 1: Overview of the SAT
500 words long. Cite examples from published works, your own experience, and current events, as relevant. Use a clear and logical method of
organization.
Q:
A:
What should I do if I have time left over?
Stay focused and use your time to advantage.
• Return to questions you couldn’t answer the first time and work on
them now.
• Double-check your answers.
• Make sure you have marked all test bubbles correctly. You surely don’t
want to lose credit because you mismarked answers!
• Proofread your essay for errors in grammar, usage, and punctuation.
• Recopy messy parts of your essays.
Q:
A:
What can I do about panic?
Q:
A:
What should I do if some questions seem harder than others?
Q:
A:
What should I do if other students are writing and I’m not?
Q:
A:
What if other students finish before I do?
Q:
A:
What if I can’t get an answer?
Few test situations are as high-pressured as taking the SAT. If you find
yourself with a case of the jitters, close your eyes and focus on a pleasant
scene. When you open your eyes, you should be a little more relaxed.
Don’t panic if some questions seem much harder than others. They probably are. That’s the way the test is designed.
Relax. They may be working on another part of the test or not have
thought enough. By thinking a bit longer before you answer, you might
do better than someone who plunges right in.
Finishing early doesn’t guarantee the best grade. Usually the better papers
are handed in by students who have spent more time thinking about their
answers and checking their papers over.
Just skip the question and move on. If you have enough time, you can
return to the question later. If you run out of time before you can return
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
to it, you are still better off answering more questions correctly than wasting time on a question you can’t answer.
Q:
A:
What should I do if I freeze and just can’t go on?
If this happens, there are many different things that you can do. First,
remind yourself that you have studied and so are well-prepared. Then
remember that every question you have answered is worth points. Finally,
stop working and close your eyes. Take two or three deep breaths. Breathe
in and out to the count of 5. Then go on with the test.
P A R T
Diagnostic Verbal SAT
and Answer Key
2
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
General Directions for the Diagnostic Verbal SAT
This test was constructed to represent what you will encounter on the Verbal
part of the SAT. Since the new SAT has yet to be given, this diagnostic test is
based on the press releases issued by the College Board. There is always the
chance that the College Board will adjust the format as it develops the test.
To get the most benefit from this test, try to get as close as possible to actual
test conditions. Take the test in a quiet room without distractions. Tear out the
answer sheets on pages 19 and 21 and use them to record the answers to all test
questions. Follow all directions carefully, observe the time limits, and take the
test in one sitting. The more closely you match test conditions, the more accurate your results will be and the better able you will be to evaluate your
strengths and weaknesses. This will help you a lot as you study.
17
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
SECTION 1
TIME—25 MINUTES; 25 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences have one or two blanks, each of which
indicates a missing word. Beneath each sentence are five words or pairs of
words. Choose the word or pair of words which, when inserted in the sentence,
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Indicate your answer by filling
in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
1. The party boss shrewdly shifted party
lines; hence, he was able to ———
any voting bloc out of ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
sanction, hand
disavow, actuality
validate, district
countenance, reluctance
gerrymander, existence
2. The restaurant itself was beautiful
and the service was excellent, but the
food was ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
superb
shabby
inedible
delicious
palatable
3. He was the chief ——— of his
uncle’s will; in short, he was left
with a(n) ——— of $200,000.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
beneficiary, inheritance
heir, invoice
adjudicator, reckoning
plethora, estate
reader, legacy
4. When his temperature ——— above
104°F, then he became agitated
and ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
descended, demented
rose, mobile
stayed, ambulatory
soared, robust
climbed, delirious
5. Although he was never at the scene of
the crime, his complicity was uncovered; he had ——— and ———
the robbery by disposing of the stolen
property.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
aided, abetted
assisted, foiled
hindered, eschewed
impeded, shunned
thwarted, warned
6. The offenders then prostrated
themselves and ——— for mercy.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
conceded
petitioned
reiterated
submitted
approached
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
7. If you find peeling potatoes to be
———, then perhaps you would
——— scrubbing the floors.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
burdensome, despise
galling, detest
onerous, prefer
tiresome, encourage
genial, fancy
8. The film was completely devoid of any
plot or character development; it was
merely a ——— of striking images.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
proximity
duration
dilettante
montage
dearth
DIRECTIONS: Each of the following passages is followed by questions. Answer
each question based on what is directly stated or suggested in the related
passage. Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding circle on your
answer sheet. Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following passage.
Global warming is a serious issue that affects all countries around the globe. The following passage discusses one aspect of this problem.
1
5
According to the National Academy of Sciences, Earth’s surface temperature has risen by about
1 degree Fahrenheit in the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades.
There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable
to human activities. Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere
through the buildup of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed although uncertainties exist about exactly
how Earth’s climate responds to them.
9. The writer repeats the phrase
“human activities” for all the
following reasons except to
(A) ensure clarity
(B) create emphasis
(C) provide specific details and
description
(D) help readers follow the flow of
ideas
(E) lead from one idea to the next
10. The next paragraph of this essay will
most likely
(A) explain what people can do to
stop global warming
(B) trace how the National Academy
of Sciences began and elucidate
its role today
(C) list other greenhouse gases
(D) suggest ways that the world’s
meteorological conditions
respond to greenhouse gases
(E) illustrate the heat-trapping
properties of greenhouse gases
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Questions 11 and 12 are based on the following passage.
New techniques have boosted cattle production and resulted in more meat at lower prices.
1
5
To raise meat output, livestock producers have adopted new, intensive rearing techniques relying on
grains and legumes to feed their animals. For example, farmers have moved nearly all of the pigs
and poultry in industrial countries into giant indoor feeding facilities. There, they eat carefully
measured rations of energy-rich grain and protein-rich soybean meal. Cattle everywhere still spend
most of their time dining outdoors, although beef producers—particularly in the United States, but
also in Russia, South Africa, and Japan—supplement that roughage with grain in the months before
slaughter. By contrast, Australian and South American cattle graze their entire lives, while European
beef comes mostly from dairy herds, which eat less grain than American beef herds.
11. In line 2, legumes most likely means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
vegetables
meats
solid food
oats and barley
rice
12. This passage is developed primarily
through
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
time order
comparison and contrast
most to least important details
least to most important details
advantages and disadvantages
Questions 13 to 19 are based on the following passage.
Chief Joseph, leader of the Nez Perce Indians, delivered the following surrender speech in 1877. The speech
has come to be called “I Will Fight No More Forever.”
1
5
Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have in my heart. I am tired of
fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzote is dead. The old men are all
dead. It is the young men who say yes and no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold and
we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run
away to the hills and have no blankets, no food: no one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to
death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find
them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun
now stands I will fight no more forever.
13. Chief Joseph’s reasons for deciding to
“fight no more forever” include all
the following except
(A) the chiefs have been killed
(B) he is dying
(C) it is cold and his people have no
shelter
(D) his people are starving
(E) the leader of the young warriors
has died
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
14. Rather than fighting, Chief Joseph
wants time to
(A) negotiate honorable surrender
terms with the federal
government
(B) escape to Canada from the
tribe’s home in Oregon
(C) fight one last battle and then
never fight again
(D) meet with General Howard, with
whom he has an understanding
(E) look for his scattered children
15. Who are Looking Glass and
Toohoolhoolzote?
(A) young men in the tribe
(B) other Native Americans who are
helping the tribe negotiate with
the federal government
(C) Chief Joseph’s favorite children
(D) great chiefs of his tribe
(E) historical leaders, long dead
before the time of this speech
16. As used in line 3, the sentence “It is
the young men who say yes and no”
is best understood to mean
(A) even the young men cannot save
them now
(B) Chief Joseph laments the necessity of having the tribe led by
inexperienced men
(C) young men are better leaders
than older men
(D) Chief Joseph has been forced
from power by the young men
(E) young men cannot be trusted as
older men can
17. Chief Joseph’s writing style contributes to the impact of his speech by
(A) decreasing the emotional appeal
of his words
(B) downplaying his main points
with arrogance
(C) emphasizing his main points
with dignity
(D) revealing his reliance on literary
allusions
(E) emphasizing the difference
between appearance and reality
18. Chief Joseph’s language reinforces the
effect of his rhetoric by
(A) making the speech easy to read
(B) allowing the facts to tell the story
without any literary contrivances
(C) masking his true sorrow
(D) relying on symbolism to convey
his emotion
(E) excoriating the federal government for betraying his people
19. The tone of this speech is best
described as
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ironic
somber and despairing
resigned and thoughtful
hopeful
combative
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Questions 20 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Few creatures capture our imagination like the shark. The following passage describes some facts you may
not know about sharks.
1
5
Described as a “swimming and eating machine without peer,” the shark is considered an evolutionary success story, having changed little over 60 million years. Sharks are models of efficiency with
their boneless skeletons, simple brains, generalized nervous systems, and simple internal structures.
Their hydrodynamically designed shapes, razor-sharp replaceable teeth, powerful jaws, and voracious appetites make them excellent marauders. Through scavenging and predation, the 250 species
of sharks perform a valuable service in maintaining the ecological balance of the oceans. Their welldeveloped sensory systems enable them to detect extreme dilutions of blood in water, low frequency
sounds of splashing made by a fish in distress, and movements and contrasts in water.
15
While many sharks are caught by fishermen for sport, sharks can and do sustain small commercial
ventures. Their skins provide a hide tougher than leather, out of which boots and wallets are fabricated, and their enormous livers contain a valuable source of vitamin A. Shark meat is processed for
fertilizer and livestock feed as well as for human consumption. The British “fish-and-chips” industry
depends on shark meat; the Italians annually consume about 10 million pounds of smooth dogfish
shark; the Chinese use shark fins for soup. Generally, shark meat is consumed unknowingly under
other, more appetizing names.
20
Sharks are also contributing to medical research through studies of their immunological systems. While
this research may result in saving human lives, sharks do, at times, take lives. Each year about 25 to
30 shark attacks on people are reported worldwide with the victims either maimed or killed. The vast
majority of these attacks occur off the coast of Australia—only a few occur off the coast of the United
States. Research on shark attacks may eventually lead to the development of an effective shark repellent.
10
20. As used in line 1, peer most nearly
means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
friend
better
equal
dock
improvement
21. According to the first paragraph, all
the following contribute to the
shark’s success as a hunter except
(A) hydrodynamically designed
shape
(B) razor-sharp replaceable teeth
(C) powerful jaws
(D) voracious appetite
(E) great age
22. Which conclusion is best supported
by the first paragraph?
(A) The author is very afraid of
sharks.
(B) The author admires sharks.
(C) People should learn more about
sharks.
(D) Sharks are not very intelligent.
(E) Sharks are very dangerous
because they attack humans.
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
23. It can be inferred from the information in the second paragraph that
shark meat is sold under different
names because
(A) people don’t want to know that
they are eating shark
(B) shark meat is an excellent source
of vitamin A
(C) shark meat is used for fertilizer
(D) shark meat used to be called
something else
(E) shark meat is not very appetizing
24. As used in line 18, maimed most
nearly means
(A) traumatized
(B) terrified
(C) assassinated
(D) injured
(E) butchered
25. Which of the following best states the
main idea of the third paragraph?
(A) Most shark attacks occur off the
coast of Australia.
(B) On average, sharks kill fewer
than 50 people a year.
(C) Sharks are found in waters
throughout the world.
(D) Although sharks occasionally
attack people, some medical
treatments may come from
research with sharks.
(E) Sharks that live in southern
waters are more dangerous than
those that inhabit northern
waters.
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
SECTION 2
TIME—25 MINUTES; 28 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences have one or two blanks, each of which
indicates a missing word. Beneath each sentence are five words or pairs of
words. Choose the word or pair of words which, when inserted in the sentence,
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Indicate your answer by filling
in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
1. During the Revolutionary War,
Hessian troops fought on the
British side, not as ———, but as
———. They were paid in money,
not glory.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
confederates, partners
antagonists, nonpartisans
rebels, insurgents
allies, mercenaries
traitors, novices
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
2. Professor Martin spent his entire
career as a teacher trying to ———
his students to appreciate the ———
of poetry.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
encourage, beauty
invite, difficulty
dissuade, benefit
deter, marvel
encourage, confusion
3. Although the movie was panned
by all the major critics, audiences
around the country seemed to
find it ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
appalling
reprehensible
intolerable
genial
mediocre
4. Peter was ——— by the repeated
rejections of his novel; as a result, he
——— to submit his manuscript to
other publishers.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
devastated, proceeded
undaunted, continued
shattered, wanted
undiscouraged, suspended
unaffected, refused
5. Since there is a stigma attached
to this job, it is ———, even at a(n)
——— salary.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
unappealing, lucrative
repulsive, menial
enticing, fabulous
alluring, profitable
attractive, mean
6. A week of sun and exercise had a
——— effect; due to this, the dark
circles under her eyes were ———
and her skin took on a rosy glow.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
peremptory, reinstated
healthful, restored
salubrious, erased
curative, deepened
harsh, expunged
7. A system of education should be
——— by the ——— of students it
turns out; in summary, quality is
preferable to quantity.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
evaluated, abundance
judged, caliber
reckoned, generosity
disregarded, essence
considered, maturity
8. Avoid becoming involved with
——— politicians lest you get caught
in a(n) ——— from which you have
difficulty extricating yourself.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
venal, anathema
virtuous, entanglement
poised, muddle
corrupt, lawsuit
loquacious, discourse
9. You should have ——— trouble
ahead when the speeding traffic
suddenly ——— to a crawl.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
anticipated, slowed
interrogated, started
expected, grew
enjoyed, transformed
seen, collected
10. If he hasn’t yet ——— the importance of speaking well of others, he
must be quite ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
rejected, arcane
mastered, astute
rationalized, shrewd
learned, simple
understood, profound
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
DIRECTIONS: Each of the following passages is followed by one or more
questions. Answer each question based on what is directly stated or suggested
in the related passage. Indicate your answers by filling in the corresponding
circle on your answer sheet. Question 11 is based on the following passage.
The following passage describes how ranchers compensate for poor land quality.
1
5
Eradicating tree cover sets the wheels of land degradation in motion. Shallow, acidic, and nutrientpoor, tropical soils rapidly lose critical phosphorus and other nutrients when the forest is converted
to pasture. To compensate for the fertility decline, ranchers often stock newly cleared land at four
times the standard rate of one cow per hectare, which accelerates erosion and the vegetative shift to
annual weeds and shrubs. Stocking rates fall precipitously thereafter, and most pasture is abandoned
for land newly carved from the forest.
11. As used in line 5, precipitously most
nearly means
(A) prematurely
(B) early
(C) abruptly
(D) sadly
(E) tragically
Question 12 is based on the following passage.
The key deer was hunted to near extinction, but the creature was protected by compassionate and hardworking conservationists.
1
5
One of the rarest and most prized animals in the United States is the key deer. This tiny creature was
once hunted without mercy. It was not uncommon for a single hunter to kill more than a dozen key
deer in one day. Often, hunters set grass fires to drive the creatures out of hiding; other times, they
were attacked with harpoons while they were swimming. In the 1950s, conservationists—led by the
Boone and Crockett Club—saved the key deer from extinction. Today, the surviving key deer are
protected by the United States government in the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1957.
12. Which of the following is implied in
the passage?
(A) Species become at risk of dying
out when they are hunted too
extensively.
(B) The government is still the most
effective way to safeguard the
environment because it has the
resources to establish effective
programs.
(C) Endangered species will only be
saved if they become a priority.
(D) Government officials and private
citizens must work together to
help the environment.
(E) The key deer is valuable for its
beautiful coat.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Question 13 is based on the following passage.
“Tsunami,” the Japanese word for seismic sea-waves, is also used as the scientific term for this phenomenon. Most tsunamis originate around the so-called Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanoes and seismic activity
that encircles the Pacific Ocean.
1
5
Tsunamis, or seismic sea-waves, are gravity waves set in motion by underwater disturbances associated with earthquakes. These waves are frequently called “tidal waves” although they have nothing
to do with the tides. Tsunamis consist of a decaying train of waves and may be detectable on tide
gauges for as long as a week. Near its origin, the first wave of a tsunami may be the largest; at greater
distances, the largest is normally between the second and seventh wave. Since 1819, more than forty
tsunamis have struck the Hawaiian Islands.
13. It can be inferred from this passage
that
(A) tsunamis are rare occurrences,
so few people have experienced
them
(B) scientists know a great deal
about tsunamis, especially their
cause and prevention
(C) tsunamis are short-lived
phenomena
(D) tsunamis have been studied
extensively and are wellunderstood by scientists
(E) tsunamis can be very dangerous
Questions 14 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Studying has many uses, as the following passage argues.
1
5
10
15
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness
and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of
business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge the particulars, one by one; but the general
counsels, and the plots and marshaling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend
too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature and are perfected by
experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants that need proyning by study; and studies
themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.
Crafty men contemn [condemn] studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they
teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them and above them, won by observation.
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and a few to
be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not
curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may
be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sorts of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters,
flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And
therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he need have a
great wit; and if he read little, he need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not.
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
14. By using the word delight in the first
sentence and repeating it in the second sentence, the author specifically
emphasizes
(A) how studying serves only for
pleasure
(B) his personal resolve to master as
much information as possible
(C) his own devotion to study
(D) the rewards that the attainment
of knowledge brings
(E) the sacrifices necessary to
become learned
15. According to the author, what are the
three primary benefits of study?
(A) privateness, discourse, humor
(B) enjoyment, adornment,
competence
(C) secrecy, character, self-respect
(D) pleasure, advancement,
reputation
(E) self-respect, proficiency,
direction
16. All the following dangers can result
from excessive study except
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
accomplishment
laziness
simplified judgments
an attitude of superiority
inactivity
17. As used in line 5, affectation most
nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
fondness
respect
pretense
gratification
decoration
18. According to the author, you should
read to
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
challenge what you read
believe the writer’s main points
think about the writer’s ideas
find things to talk about
take the writer’s ideas for
granted
19. As used in the line 16, meaner most
nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
cruel
inferior
fierce
unnatural
cheaper
20. The speaker’s tone is best described as
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
diffident and modest
precarious
ironic
authoritative and confident
arrogant and overbearing
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Questions 21 to 28 are based on the following passage.
The American Revolution (1776–1783) resulted in America’s independence from Great Britain. The first
armed encounter of the Revolution took place in Concord, Massachusetts, where the British force in
Boston numbered about 3500 men. The following is a contemporary account of the landmark battle.
1
On the 18th of April at eleven at night, about eight hundred Grenadiers and light infantry were ferried across the Bay to Cambridge, from whence they marched to Concord, about twenty miles. The
Congress had been lately assembled at that place, and it was imagined that the General had intelligence of a magazine being formed there and that they were going to destroy it.
5
The people in the country (who are all furnished with arms and have what they call Minute Companies in every town ready to march on any alarm) had a signal, it is supposed, by a light from one
of the steeples in town. Upon the troops’ embarking, the alarm spread through the country, so that
before daybreak the people in general were in arms and on their march to Concord.
10
15
About daybreak a number of people appeared before the troops on Lexington Common. When they
[the American colonists] were told to disperse, they fired on the troops and ran off, upon which the
Light Infantry pursued them and brought down about fifteen of them. The troops went on to
Concord and executed the business they were sent on, and on their return found two or three of
their people lying in the agonies of death, scalped, with their noses and ears cut off and eyes bored
out—which exasperated the soldiers exceedingly. A prodigious number of people now occupied the
hills, woods, and stone walls along the road. The Light Troops drove some parties from the hills, but
all the road being enclosed with store walls served as a cover to the rebels, from whence they fired
on the troops. . . . In this manner were the troops harassed in their return for seven or eight miles.
21. What story does the writer tell of the
confrontation on Lexington
Common?
(A) When the British told the
colonists to disperse, the British
fired first and the colonists
pursued them. The Native
Americans joined the battle
on the American side.
(B) The British attacked the
colonists, who fought back with
great bravery and zeal.
(C) When the British told the
colonists to disperse, the
colonists fired first but the
British pursued them.
(D) An unknown person fired, and
then a British solider fired on
an unarmed American. Finally,
all the British soldiers started
firing.
(E) The Americans gathered to fight
off the invading British, who
greatly outnumbered the rebels.
22. As used in line 4, a magazine is most
likely
(A) a periodical publication featuring nonfiction articles, commentary, and light fiction
(B) a building in which ammunition and explosives are stored
for military use
(C) an ammunition gunbelt
(D) a preacher advocating rebellion
(E) a mutinous newspaper determined to bring down the
government
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
23. The writer’s tone in the second
paragraph is best described as
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
carefully impartial
horrified and dismayed
astonished and amazed
disdainful and condescending
admiring and worshipful
24. The writer refers to the American
colonists as “rebels” to
(A) show her sympathy for the
British
(B) reveal her secret support for the
colonists
(C) further the cause of American
independence
(D) address her audience with
respect
(E) indicate that the colonists were
justified in their actions in this
instance
25. The writer is most likely
(A) a British soldier
(B) an American colonist loyal to
England
(C) an American rebel
(D) a visitor to America from Europe
(E) someone considering moving to
America to join the colonists
26. As used in line 14, prodigious most
nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
accomplished
unusual
huge
meager
few
27. The author includes the description
“lying in the agonies of death,
scalped, with their noses and ears cut
off and eyes bored out” to
(A) convince readers that the difficulties between the British and
Americans must be settled as
soon as possible, and without
any further violence
(B) make her narrative more compelling reading
(C) elicit pity for the rebel soldiers,
oppressed by the British
(D) evoke sympathy for the British
troops
(E) portray the Native Americans as
brutal savages and justify their
mass relocation and slaughter
28. This document is most likely a(n)
(A) letter to the editor of a
Massachusetts newspaper
(B) plea for peace and moderation
(C) editorial for a colonial
newspaper
(D) diary entry
(E) letter to a friend
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
SECTION 3
TIME—15 MINUTES; 12 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The two passages presented are followed by questions about
their content and the relationship between the passages. Answer each question
based on what is directly stated or suggested in the passages. Indicate your
answer by filling in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
Passage 1
The following passage is from a speech that Sojourner Truth delivered at the women’s rights convention in
Akron, Ohio, in 1851.
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10
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that
‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men
will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and
to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or
gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as
much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a
woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out
with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s that they call it? [“Intellect” someone whispers.]
That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or Negro’s rights? If my cup won’t hold
but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half-measure
full? . . .
15
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these
women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is
asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.
Passage 2
The following is an excerpt from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s essay, “Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl.”
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Many years ago, the few readers of radical Abolitionist papers must often have seen the singular
name of Sojourner Truth, announced as a frequent speaker at Anti-Slavery meetings, and as traveling on a sort of self-appointed agency through the country. I had myself often remarked the name,
but never met the individual. On one occasion, when our house was filled with company, several
eminent clergymen being our guests, notice was brought up to me that Sojourner Truth was below,
and requested an interview. Knowing nothing of her but her singular name, I went down, prepared
to make the interview short, as the pressure of many other engagements demanded. When I went
into the room, a tall, spare form arose to meet me. She was evidently a full-blooded African, and
though now aged and worn with many hardships, still gave the impression of a physical development which in early youth must have been as fine a specimen of the torrid zone as Cumberworth’s
celebrated statuette of the Negro Woman at the Fountain. Indeed, she so strongly reminded me of
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
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that figure, that, when I recall the events of her life, as she narrated them to me, I imagine her as a
living, breathing impersonation of that work of art. I do not recollect ever to have been conversant
with any one who had more of that silent and subtle power which we call personal presence than
this woman. In the modern Spiritualistic phraseology, she would be described as having a strong
sphere. Her tall form, as she rose up before me, is still vivid to my mind. She was dressed in some
stout, grayish stuff, neat and clean, though dusty from travel. On her head, she wore a bright Madras
handkerchief, arranged as a turban. She seemed perfectly self-possessed and at her ease,—in fact,
there was almost an unconscious superiority, not unmixed with a solemn twinkle of humor, in the
odd, composed manner in which she looked down on me. Her whole air had at times a gloomy sort
of drollery which impressed one strangely.
1. In passage 1, by directly addressing
the members of the audience as “children,” Sojourner Truth suggests that
(A) they are acting very immaturely
(B) we are all equal in God’s eyes
(C) she is morally and intellectually
superior to the members of her
audience
(D) the members of the audience
should be ashamed of the way
they are acting
(E) the delegates at the assembly are
young but she is elderly and thus
wiser
2. As used in line 1, the idiom “something out of kilter” means that
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
something is evil
something is dangerous
people are foolish
something is mysterious
something is wrong
3. The idea that “women need to be
helped into carriages and lifted over
ditches” (line 4) in passage 1 can be
understood
(A) in both a literal and metaphorical way
(B) as an insult to women who do
not work
(C) as an acknowledgment of the
wide social gulf between
Sojourner Truth and wealthy
white women
(D) as an awareness of the social
mores of the time
(E) as Sojourner Truth’s rage at the
maltreatment she has received as
a slave and as a woman
4. The phrase “Look at my arm” in
line 7 suggests
(A) a threat
(B) Sojourner Truth has been
injured and bears the scars
(C) Sojourner Truth is as strong as
any man
(D) the speaker’s physical strength
represents her psychological
strength
(E) Sojourner Truth is physically
superior to most men
5. The repeated refrain “And ain’t I a
woman?” in passage 1 serves to
(A) convey Sojourner Truth’s ironic
stance
(B) stress the equality of all women
while pointing out inequalities
(C) alert the reader to the specific
details to follow
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
(D) intimidate the reader with the
harsh question
(E) provide evidence that the
speaker is bitter at the treatment
she has received
6. In passage 1, the speaker is critical of
(A) upper-class women of leisure
(B) men
(C) the possibility that real social
change can ever be effected
(D) religion
(E) male claims that women are the
“weaker sex”
7. The statement “That’s it, honey” in
line 12 serves most directly to
(A) provide an ironic counterpoint
to Sojourner Truth’s previous
comments
(B) signal the hopeless mood
(C) remind the audience that the
speaker is a woman
(D) distance the audience from the
speaker
(E) draw the audience closer to the
speaker
8. From her speech, you can infer that
Sojourner Truth wants to prove that
(A) some women, but not all, can
take up the mantle of autonomy
(B) women are vastly superior to
men
(C) slavery must be abolished
throughout the union
(D) women will get the vote, regardless of what men say or do
(E) women are as capable as men
and deserve equal rights
9. What does passage 2 suggest about
Sojourner Truth’s reputation?
(A) She was well-known only among
a small, select group of religious
leaders.
(B) She was so famous that she had
posed for a famous work of art,
Cumberworth’s celebrated statuette of the Negro Woman at
the Fountain.
(C) In the past, she had been a familiar name among people who
worked to make slavery illegal.
(D) She had been well-known in the
past, and her fame had only
grown in the present.
(E) She was well-known, but rejected
fame because she accomplished
more by traveling incognito.
10. In passage 2, Harriet Beecher Stowe
compares Sojourner Truth to a statue
chiefly to
(A) show her admiration for the
abolitionist’s dignity and
carriage
(B) suggest that Sojourner Truth was
stiff and ill at ease in company
(C) indicate that Sojourner Truth
looks strangely familiar to her
(D) imply that Sojourner Truth is a
disappointment in person,
because Stowe expected her to
be larger than life
(E) hint that Sojourner Truth
deserves a statue erected in
her honor
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
11. The two passages differ in tone in
that passage 1 is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
neutral
whiny
resentful
calm
incendiary
(B) slavery was an evil institution
(C) Harriet Beecher Stowe worked
hard for the abolition of slavery
(D) Sojourner Truth was an
admirable, extraordinary person
(E) Harriet Beecher Stowe and
Sojourner Truth were close
personal friends
12. From both passages, you can infer that
(A) everyone worked to abolish
slavery
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
SECTION 4
TIME—25 MINUTES; Essay
DIRECTIONS: Read the excerpt presented and the assignment that follows it.
Then plan and write an essay that explains your ideas about the topic.
Remember to support your position with both reasons and examples to make
your ideas convincing to the reader.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, “Certainly I can!” Then get busy and
find out how to do it.
Assignment: In this statement, former President Theodore Roosevelt advocates
taking chances. On the other hand, you can fall flat on your face if you go into
a new school, job, or any challenge without sufficient experience or learning.
On your own paper, discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with
Roosevelt’s statement. Support your position by providing reasons and
examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
SECTION 5
TIME 25—MINUTES; 25 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences require you to identify errors in
grammar, usage, style, and mechanics. Not every sentence has an error, and no
sentence will have more than one error. Each sentence error, if there is one, is
underlined and lettered. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that
must be changed to make the sentence correct and blacken the corresponding
circle on your answer sheet. If there is no error, blacken circle E. Elements of
the sentence that are not underlined are not to be changed.
1. After Louis fractured his leg in a skiing accident, he is absent from school
A
B
C
for a full semester. No error.
D
E
2. If you are upset over an insult or affront—even if it occurred intentionally
A
B
C
and maliciously—one should try not to hold grudges. No error.
D
E
3. Masses of white clouds hanging low above the flat marshy plain and
A
B
seemed to be tangled in the tops of distant palm and cypress trees. No error.
C
D
E
4. Not only does lightning often strike twice in the same place, but it is more
A
B
C
likely than not to do so. No error.
D
E
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
5. Hector has scarcely no money because he is saving all his spare cash to buy
A
B
C
a car; in addition, he is contributing to the family budget. No error.
D
E
6. One reason for the abundance of fresh produce in our grocery stores is
A
B
C
speeding trucks that carry food great distances. No error.
D
E
7. Two bond traders, Alice and her, were given very large bonuses because
A
B
their accounts had performed unusually well. No error.
C
D
E
8. You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous French composers,
A
B
artists, and writers are buried daily except Sunday. No error.
C
D
E
9. The resolution that has just been agreed with by the school board members
A
B
will result in a five percent tax increase in the upcoming year. No error.
C
D
E
10. Computerized grammar checkers are software programs that flag
A
errors or doubtful usage in a passage so that you can correct these
B
C
writing problems. No error.
D
E
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
DIRECTIONS: In each sentence below, part or all of the sentence is underlined.
Each sentence is followed by five ways of phrasing the underlined part. Choose
the best version of the underlined portion of each sentence and blacken the
corresponding circle on your answer sheet. Choice A is always the same as the
underlined portion of the original sentence. Choose answer A if you think the
original sentence needs no revision.
11. Each year it seems to get harder to
pay for a college education because
a college education costs so much
and it has been difficult to get
scholarships.
(A) it has been difficult to get
scholarships
(B) scholarships are difficult to get
(C) and it is being difficult to get
scholarships
(D) it be difficult to get scholarship
money
(E) getting scholarships is difficult
to do
12. Although it has been estimated that
many people are deprived of muchneeded medical care in this country,
especially follow-up visits and preventative medication.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Although it
Since it
In spite of the fact that it
It
If it
13. According to some sources nearly
one-third of all American children go
to bed hungry each night, despite
social welfare programs designed to
combat hunger.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
sources nearly
sources: nearly
sources, nearly
sources—nearly
sources; nearly
14. College financial aid officers claim the
money would all be used if applicants
looked more thorough for funds.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
more thorough
thorough
more, thorough
more thorougher
more thoroughly
15. A new industry has sprung up that
used computers to locate parents
who fail to pay child support for
their children.
(A) used computers to locate
(B) would be using computers to
locate
(C) had been using computers to
locate
(D) uses computers to locate
(E) use computers to locate
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
16. A turkey instead of an eagle was first
wanted by Ben Franklin as our
national symbol.
(A) A turkey instead of an eagle was
first wanted by Ben Franklin as
our national symbol.
(B) First, a turkey instead of an eagle
was wanted by Ben Franklin as
our national symbol.
(C) As our national symbol, a turkey
instead of an eagle was first
wanted by Ben Franklin.
(D) Ben Franklin first wanted a
turkey instead of an eagle as our
national symbol.
(E) By Ben Franklin, a turkey
instead of an eagle was first
wanted as our national symbol.
17. Confirming our conversation of
March 17, the shipment of books and
magazines that you ordered will be
delivered first thing Friday morning.
(A) Confirming our conversation of
March 17,
(B) Confirming the March 17 conversation,
(C) On March 17, confirming our
conversation,
(D) Confirming our conversation of
March 17 by me,
(E) As I stated in our conversation
of March 17,
18. During a thunderstorm, people who
are inside should not talk on the telephone, stand near any open windows,
or using large appliances.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
using large appliances
use large appliances
have been using large appliances
used large appliances
were using large appliances
19. Of all the movies ever made, The
Godfather has been recognized as one
of America’s greater movies.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
greater movies
more great movies
greatest movies
more greater movies
most greater movies
20. Most people who drink coffee do not
know where it comes from it is actually the fruit of an evergreen tree.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
from it is
from, it is
from it is,
from; it is
from it; is
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
DIRECTIONS: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts
of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best
answers to the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular
sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and
word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and
ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions,
follow the conventions of standard written English. After you have chosen your
answer, fill in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following first draft of an essay.
1
5
10
(1) Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842 on March 3, 1843, Morse was granted $30,000 from
Congress to build a trial line between Baltimore and Washington. (2) From a social aspect, it is important to note that the telegraph played a major part in connecting the continent. (3) Together, the telegraph and the railroads reduced isolation and increased mobility, and speeded up life in the United
States. (4) The telegraph made it possible to synchronize clocks at distant train stations and make
accurate schedules. (5) It also allowed stations to tell each other where each train was, and prevent
accidents.
(6) Morse code can be considered the first modern information system. (7) It is a simple means of communicating messages with as few errors as possible, and even when errors occur, the message is still
understandable. (8) In fact, almost any sort of signal in patterns of three is considered a call for help.
(9) Even though it’s rarely used, Morse code still resonates symbolically in today’s society. (10) Almost
everyone knows the three-dot, three-dash, three-dot code for S.O.S., which is still widely used as a
distress call.
21. In context, which is the best way to
revise and combine the underlined
portion of sentence 1 (reproduced
here)?
Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842,
on March 3, 1843, Morse was granted $30,000
from Congress to build a trial line between
Baltimore and Washington.
(A) As it is now.
(B) Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842, on March 3, 1843,
(C) Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842, yet on March 3,
1843,
(D) Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842, because on
March 3, 1843,
(E) Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842, and on March 3,
1843,
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
22. Which sentence would be most
appropriate to follow sentence 2?
(A) As it is now.
(B) Morse himself, as a historical
figure, has made a mark on the
art world as well.
(C) Not only did the telegraph allow
fast communication over large
distances for the first time, but it
also made train travel safer and
more efficient.
(D) Morse appears in a central,
prominent position in Christian
Schussele’s Men of Progress,
clearly indicating him as a
driving force in progress.
(E) Samuel Morse was an innovator,
and he took the ideas of many
people and gathered them into a
workable network that helped
connect the continent.
23. Which of the following best replaces
the word It in sentence 7?
(A) They
(B) Morse’s dot-dash system
(C) The first modern information
system
(D) Communication
(E) Morse
24. What is the best order of sentences in
the last paragraph to create logic and
unity?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
As it is now.
9, 10, 8
8, 10, 9
10, 8, 9
9, 8, 10
25. Including a paragraph on which of
the following would most strengthen
the writer’s argument?
(A) Morse’s effect on modern art
(B) Morse’s childhood and training
as a scientist
(C) Other methods of
communication
(D) Samuel Morse’s legacy
(E) The disadvantages of Morse
code
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Diagnostic Verbal SAT Answer Key
Section 1
1. E.
The correct sentence reads: “The party boss shrewdly shifted party lines; hence,
he was able to gerrymander any voting bloc out of existence.” Gerrymander
means “to divide a state, county, and so on into election districts to give one
political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting
strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.” The word was
coined from the last name of Elbridge Gerry, a former governor of Massachusetts,
whose party redistricted the state in 1812, and the word salamander, from the
resemblance of the redistricting to this creature. By “shifting party lines,” the
party boss reformed (gerrymandered) any “voting bloc out of existence.”
2. C. The correct sentence reads: “The restaurant itself was beautiful and the service
was excellent, but the food was inedible.” If a restaurant is beautiful and the
service is excellent, you would expect the food to be delicious. The transition
but indicates that just the opposite is true. Hence, the food must not be up to
the same high standards; it must be inedible, or not able to be eaten.
3. A. The correct sentence reads: “He was the chief beneficiary of his uncle’s will; in
short, he was left with an inheritance of $200,000.” The chief beneficiary is the
main inheritor, the person who gets the bulk of an estate when the will is read.
Someone who gets the money receives an inheritance. Inheritance is the word
used to mean “any property passing at the owner’s death to the heirs.”
4. E.
The correct sentence reads: “When his temperature climbed above 104°F, then he
became agitated and delirious.” Since a person’s normal temperature is 98.6°F, it
must rise to reach 104°F. This automatically eliminates choice A. When a person’s temperature rises that high, he or she would become delirious, or “wild
with excitement.” The clue word is agitated.
5. A. The correct sentence reads: “Although he was never at the scene of the crime,
his complicity was uncovered; he had aided and abetted the robbery by disposing of the stolen property.” Complicity means “complying, obeying, or yielding.”
Only choices A and B fit. Someone who complies would abet, meaning “help or
aid,” so choice A fits best.
6.
B.
The correct sentence reads: “The offenders then prostrated themselves and petitioned for mercy.” If people prostrate themselves, they “lie down in helplessness.”
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SAT 2400! A Sneak Preview of the New SAT I Verbal Section
People who assume this posture are asking for mercy. Only choice B (“petitioned”)
fits. Choice E (“approached”) is close, but assumes that the people crawled forward
on their stomachs, which is unlikely.
7. C. The correct sentence reads: “If you find peeling potatoes to be onerous, then
perhaps you would prefer scrubbing the floors.” The transition if tells you that
the second clause will be the opposite of the first. Thus, if the person finds peeling potatoes to be onerous (burdensome or demanding), he or she would want
something different. The person would prefer scrubbing the floors. Of course,
the entire sentence is ironic and lightly humorous.
8. D. The correct sentence reads: “The film was completely devoid of any plot or character development; it was merely a montage of striking images.” Since the film is
devoid of (lacks) “any plot or character development,” the images do not hold
together. Rather, they are a series of disjoined images, a montage.
9.
C. The writer repeats the phrase “human activities” primarily to ensure clarity
(choice A). The previous sentence reads: “There is new and stronger evidence that
most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.” If
the writer had followed with the pronoun It, readers would not know if the writer
was referring to “human activities” or “new and stronger evidence.” The writer
also repeats the phrase “human activities” to create emphasis (choice B). Choices D
(to help readers follow the flow of ideas) and E (to lead from one idea to the next)
are variations on these two writing strategies, so they are correct. Since there are
no “specific details and description” in the phrase “human activities,” choice C is
incorrect. That makes it the answer that fits the question.
10. D. The last sentence provides a clear transition into ways the world’s climate will
respond to greenhouse gases. This is stated in choice D—suggest ways that the
world’s meteorological conditions respond to greenhouse gases. Thus, the second paragraph is most likely to suggest ways the world’s meteorological conditions respond to greenhouse gases.
11. A. The farmers are using “grains and legumes to feed their animals.” Using the
process of elimination, you can knock out choices D (oats and barley) and E
(rice) because they are both grains. Choice C—solid food—doesn’t make sense,
because grains are solid foods. That leaves Choices A—vegetables—and B—
meats. It makes sense that farmers would feed vegetables to their animals rather
than meat, since vegetables cost less than meat. Thus, legumes most likely are
“vegetables.” Thus choice A is correct.
12. B.
This passage is developed primarily through comparison and contrast. The clue
is the phrase “By contrast” in the last sentence of the passage.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
13. B.
Chief Joseph’s reasons for deciding to “fight no more forever” include all the following except he is dying. Chief Joseph says: “I am tired; my heart is sick and
sad.” You cannot infer from this that he is dying, however. All the other choices
are directly stated in the speech.
14. E.
Rather than fighting, Chief Joseph wants time to look for his scattered children.
This is directly stated in the line: “I want time to look for my children and see
how many of them I can find.” Choice B is partly correct—his Nez Perce tribe
did try to escape to Canada from their home in Oregon—but this cannot be
inferred from Chief Joseph’s words. Choice A is again historically correct, since
the tribe had negotiated honorable surrender terms with the federal government, but these terms were ignored. This question illustrates the importance
of reading a text closely and not bringing in outside information, which may
be factually or historically correct, but neither correct nor relevant in context.
15. D. Looking Glass and Toohoolhoolzote are great chiefs of his tribe. This comes
from the line: “Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohoolhoolzote
is dead.”
16. B.
As used in context, the sentence “It is the young men who say yes and no” is
best understood to mean that Chief Joseph laments the necessity of having the
tribe led by inexperienced men. You cannot assume that he does not trust these
leaders (choice E) or that Chief Joseph has been forced from power by the
young men (choice D). In fact, just the opposite must be true if he has been
charged with surrendering to the federal government. Since you can infer from
the passage that older leaders are more valued than younger ones, choice A—
even the young men cannot save them now—is not valid.
17. C. The writer’s style contributes to the impact of his speech by emphasizing his
main points. Chief Joseph’s simple style focuses the reader’s attention on the
meaning of his words. This is the direct opposite of choices A—decreasing the
emotional appeal of his words—and B—downplaying his main points with
arrogance. The speech does not have any literary allusions, so you can eliminate choice D. He stresses his people’s plight in specific, concrete language,
so choice E—emphasizing the difference between appearance and reality—
is illogical.
18. B.
The simplicity of his language reinforces the effect of Chief Joseph’s rhetoric by
allowing the facts to tell the story without any literary contrivances. Therefore,
choice D—relying on symbolism to convey his emotion—cannot be true. That
the speech is easy to read (choice A) has nothing to do with the effect of his
rhetoric. Rather than masking his true sorrow (choice C), the speech reveals it.
The tone is sorrowful, not violent, so choice E—excoriating the federal government for betraying his people—is false.
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19. B.
The tone of this speech is best described as somber and despairing. The next
closest choice—resigned and thoughtful—(choice C) is not quite as accurate a
description. The other choices are far off the mark.
20. C.
The word peer in the first sentence “described as a ‘swimming and eating machine
without peer,’ ” most nearly means “equal.” No other creature in the sea can match
the shark, as the second part of the first sentence suggests: “the shark is considered
an evolutionary success story.”
21. E.
This is an easy question to solve through the process of elimination and logic.
Every detail but the last one is mentioned in the paragraph as a reason why
sharks are successful hunters.
22. B.
From the details “the shark is considered an evolutionary success story” and
“through scavenging and predation, the 250 species of sharks perform a valuable service in maintaining the ecological balance of the oceans,” you can infer
that the author admires sharks. There is no support in the first paragraph for
any of the other answer choices.
23. A. You can infer from the information in the second paragraph that shark meat is
sold under different names because people don’t want to know that they are eating shark. Use the sentence “Generally, shark meat is consumed unknowingly
under other, more appetizing names.” From the phrase “more appetizing
names,” you can infer that people find the notion of eating shark unappealing.
24. D. Maimed in line 18 most nearly means “injured.” You can eliminate butchered
(choice E) and assassinated (choice C) because both essentially mean the same
as killed. The writer would not say either “killed or killed.” Choices A (traumatized) and B (terrified) mean the same thing, so they are not valid.
25. D. The main idea in the third paragraph is best stated as “Although sharks occasionally attack people, some medical treatments may come from research with
sharks.” Choices A, B, and C are details; choice E is an invalid conclusion
because there is not sufficient information in the essay to support it.
Section 2
1. D. The correct sentence reads: “During the Revolutionary War, Hessian troops
fought on the British side, not as allies, but as mercenaries. They were paid in
money, not glory.” The sentence, “They were paid in money, not glory,” tells
you that the Hessian troops were mercenaries—paid soldiers.
2. A. The correct sentence reads: “Professor Martin spent his entire career as a teacher
trying to encourage his students to appreciate the beauty of poetry.” You can
eliminate choices C and D because they do not make sense. Choices A, B, and E
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
each offer a possible choice for the first blank, but only choice A provides a
word that also makes sense in the second blank.
3. D. The correct sentence reads: “Although the movie was panned by all the major
critics, audiences around the country seemed to find it genial.” The critics had a
negative reaction to the film. The transition “although” tells you that you are
looking for a positive result.
4. B.
The correct sentence reads: “Peter was undaunted by the repeated rejections of
his novel; as a result, he continued to submit his manuscript to other publishers.” The transition “as a result” shows a cause-and-effect relationship: the second half of the sentence explains the first half. Since Peter was undaunted (not
discouraged) by the repeated rejections of his novel, he continued to submit his
manuscript to other publishers.
5. A. The correct sentence reads: “Since there is a stigma attached to this job, it is
unappealing, even at a lucrative salary.” The word since shows a cause-and-effect
relationship: Because of the stigma (shame) attached to the job, it is not a good
deal, even at a good salary. Only choice A fits this context.
6. C. The correct sentence reads: “A week of sun and exercise had a salubrious effect;
due to this, the dark circles under her eyes were erased and her skin took on a
rosy glow.” Logic dictates that a week of sun and exercise would have a beneficial effect, so you can eliminate choices A and E, since they have the opposite
meaning. We can expect the dark circles under her eyes to vanish as her skin
takes on a rosy glow. Choice C has both meanings required by context.
7. B.
The correct sentence reads: “A system of education should be judged by the caliber of students it turns out; in summary, quality is preferable to quantity.” The
phrase “in summary, quality is preferable to quantity” tells you that you need
two words that show value over amount. Choice B best fits the context.
8. E.
The correct sentence reads: “Avoid becoming involved with loquacious politicians lest you get caught in a discourse from which you have difficulty extricating yourself.” Loquacious people are very talkative, so you are likely to get
involved in a long discourse or conversation with them.
9. A. The correct sentence reads: “You should have anticipated trouble ahead when
the speeding traffic suddenly slowed to a crawl.” Trouble is not something you
enjoy or interrogate, so you can eliminate choices B and D. Now look at the second blank. Traffic cannot grow (choice C) or collect (choice E) to a crawl. Only
choice A provides words that logically fit both the first and second blanks.
10.
D. The correct sentence reads: “If he hasn’t yet learned the importance of speaking
well of others, he must be quite simple.” Look for a cause-and-effect relationship,
as shown by the word If. The best choice is D, where simple means “unintelligent.”
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11. C. As used in this passage, precipitously most nearly means “abruptly.” You can infer
this from context: since erosion is accelerated and weeds take over the land.
With greater erosion and weeds, there would be fewer animals, so stocking
rates would decline quickly.
12. C. The passage implies that endangered species will be saved only if they become a
priority. The key deer escaped extinction only when conservationists, led by the
Boone and Crockett Club, took measures to protect the animal. Choice A—
species become at risk of dying out when they are hunted too extensively—
clearly applies to the key deer, but a species can also become endangered when
its habitat disappears or when members fall prey to disease. Thus, choice A is
too general. Choice B—the government is still the most effective way to safeguard the environment because it has the resources to establish effective programs—is another gross generalization. Choice D—government officials and
private citizens must work together to help the environment—is wrong because
either group can accomplish much on its own. Further, we do not know if the
conservationists and Boone and Crockett Club members are government
employees or private citizens. Finally, choice E—the key deer is valuable for its
beautiful coat—is not supported by the evidence in the passage. The key deer
may have been hunted for sport or for their meat.
13. E.
It can be inferred from this passage that tsunamis can be very dangerous. Since
they are coupled with earthquakes and affect tide gauges for as long as a week,
you can deduce that tsunamis are significant occurrences. There is no support
in the passage for the other choices.
14. D. By using the word delight in the first sentence and repeating it in the second
sentence, the author specifically emphasizes the rewards that the attainment of
knowledge brings. Choice A (how studying serves only for pleasure) cannot be
correct because it directly contradicts the first sentence in which the author lists
three purposes of study: “Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.” Choices B (his personal resolve to master as much information as possible)
and C (his own devotion to study) are too narrow to be correct. Choice E
(the sacrifices necessary to become learned) has nothing to do with delight;
rather, it implies just the opposite.
15. B.
According to the author, the three primary benefits of study are enjoyment,
adornment, and competence. This information is directly stated in the first
sentence: “Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.”
16. A. All the following dangers can result from excessive study except accomplishment.
The information is contained in the following sentence: “To spend too much
time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to
make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar.” Choice B
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
laziness, is the same as “sloth.” So is Choice E, inactivity. Choice C, simplified
judgments, means the same as “to make judgment wholly by their rules is the
humor of a scholar.” Choice D, an attitude of superiority, is the same as
“affectation.”
17. C. As used in this passage, affectation means “pretense.” That is the only meaning
the word can have. Do not confuse affectation with affection. This could result in
incorrectly selecting choice A, fondness, in error.
18. C. According to the author, you should read to think about the writer’s ideas. This
is directly stated in the following sentence: “Read not to contradict and confute;
nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh
and consider.” None of the other choices shows this relationship between reading and considering the writer’s ideas.
19. B.
As used in the second paragraph, meaner most nearly means “inferior.” Choice
A is wrong because “cruel” is the wrong meaning of meaner in this context. The
same is true for choices C (fierce), D (unnatural), and E (cheaper).
20. D. The speaker’s tone is best described as authoritative and confident. The author
projects a tone of assurance, learning, and conviction. This is the direct opposite
of choices A (diffident and modest) and B (precarious). Since he is being completely straightforward, choice C (ironic) cannot be correct. While he is selfassured, he is not “arrogant and overbearing” (choice E).
21. C. The writer says, “When they [the American colonists] were told to disperse, they
fired on the troops and ran off, upon which the Light Infantry pursued them.”
There are no Native Americans in the account at all, so choice A cannot possibly
be correct.
22. B.
The soldiers would be gathering to eliminate a military depot, which only
choice B explains. It would not be logical to gather 800 soldiers to destroy a
publication, no matter how seditious, so choices A and E cannot be correct.
The same is true for choices C and D.
23. D. The writer’s tone in the second paragraph is best described as disdainful and
condescending. This is shown especially in the phrases “and have what they call
Minute Companies” and “it is supposed.” This directly contradicts choice A, as
the author is clearly biased toward the British. The writer is not “horrified and
dismayed” or “astonished and amazed” until describing the brutality in the third
paragraph, eliminating choices B and C. Overall the writer admires the British
(choice E), but the tone of this passage is not worshipful toward them.
24. A. The writer clearly sets forth the events on that fateful day to convince readers
that the colonial rebels are barbarians and the British soldiers were justified in
their actions. This shows her sympathy for the British.
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25. B.
The writer’s sympathetic account of the problems the British soldiers faced at the
hands of American rebels and her familiarity with the situation suggests that she
is a colonist loyal to the British. This directly contradicts choice C, an American
rebel. A British soldier would most likely use the first-person point of view, so
choice A cannot be correct. A visitor to America from Europe (choice D) would
not be as familiar with the situation. The same is true of someone considering
moving to America to join the colonists (choice E).
26. C. The answer can be derived from the context. Since the Light Troops were
“harassed in their return for seven or eight miles,” there must be many, many
people gathered on the road. Otherwise, they would not be able to cover so
much distance. This is the direct opposite of choice E, few, and choice D, meager.
The other choices have nothing to do with the context.
27. D. Since the American rebels attacked the British and left them “lying in the agonies
of death, scalped, with their noses and ears cut off and eyes bored out,” this
description serves to evoke sympathy for the British troops (choice D). This is
the direct opposite of choice C, elicit pity for the rebel soldiers oppressed by the
British. Therefore, choice C cannot be correct. The description does make the
narrative more compelling reading (choice B), but it is more than mere gratuitous violence. There are no Native Americans mentioned in the article, so
choice E—portray the Native Americans as brutal savages and justify their mass
relocation and slaughter—cannot be correct. Finally, while the writer may
indeed want the difficulties between the British and Americans settled as soon
as possible, there is no indication that she wishes to convince her readers of this,
nor that she believes that further violence must be avoided. Therefore, choice A
cannot be correct.
28. E.
The informal tone suggests the document is a letter to a friend (choice E). The
next best choice is D, a diary entry, but the tone suggests the document was
intended for a specific audience. The writer would not be foolish enough to
publish these sentiments in an editorial for a colonial newspaper (choice C) or a
letter to the editor of a Massachusetts newspaper (choice A) with emotions running so high and such bloodshed going on. Since the document has such a
marked bias toward the British, it cannot be a plea for peace and moderation
(choice B).
Section 3
1. B.
By directly addressing the members of the audience as “children,” Sojourner
Truth suggests that we are all equal in God’s eyes. Her tone is sincere, so choices
A (they [the audience] are acting very immaturely) and D (the members of the
audience should be ashamed of the way they are acting) cannot be correct.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
Choice C (she is morally and intellectually superior to the members of her
audience) misses her point. Sojourner Truth’s strength lies in her experience and
her common sense; she makes no claim to intellectual achievements. Choice E
(the delegates at the assembly are young but she is elderly and thus more experienced) cannot be correct because we do not know Sojourner’s age nor the ages
of the people she is addressing. She may indeed be older than they are, but she
could just as easily be younger. It is logical to assume that most of the people in
the audience would be mature, given their leadership roles.
2. E.
As used in the first sentence of passage 1, the idiom “something out of kilter”
means that something is wrong. You can infer this from the “racket” (fuss) she
notes. There is no suggestion that this is evil (choice A), dangerous (choice B),
or mysterious (choice D)—it is simply amiss. While people are indeed foolish
(choice C), that does not necessarily cause things to go wrong.
3. A. “Women being helped into carriages and lifted over ditches” can be understood
in both a literal and metaphorical way. Literally, women were helped into high
carriages and carried over ditches. But Sojourner Truth’s comments can also be
understood in a metaphorical way: upper-class and middle-class women were
shielded from the harsh and unpleasant aspects of life. The cost? They were
treated as children and denied a voice in their life. Truth is not insulting women
who do not work (choice B), for she is not even addressing the issue of working
women. While this comment does acknowledge the wide social gulf between
Sojourner Truth and wealthy white women (choice C), that is not her point. She
is clearly aware of the social mores of her time (choice D), but again that is not
her point. Since her tone is level, you can eliminate choice E. Sojourner Truth’s
rage at the maltreatment she has received as a slave and as a woman.
4. D. “Look at my arm” suggests the speaker’s physical strength represents her psychological strength. Not only can she toil as well as (or better than!) any man, but
she has withstood the mental effects of brutal work. Eliminate choice A because
she is not threatening anyone. You cannot assume from this comment that she
has been injured and bears the scars (choice B), for there is no evidence in the
text of any scars. While she is indeed as strong as any man (choice C), her point
is wider. The same is true of choice E. She is physically superior to most men.
5. B.
The repeated refrain “And ain’t I a woman?” serves to stress the equality of all
women while pointing out inequalities. The speaker is being serious, not ironic,
so you can eliminate choice A (convey her ironic stance). The phrase is not a
lead-in to specific details, so you can cross out choice C (alert the reader to the
specific details to follow). She is not trying to frighten the reader, so choice D
(intimidate the reader with the harsh question) is off. Finally, “bitter” is too
strong a word for her feelings, so choice E is wrong.
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6. E.
The speaker is critical of male claims that women are the “weaker sex.” This is
shown through the examples she cites: “I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! . . . I could work as much and eat
as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! . . . I have
borne thirteen children, and seen them all sold off to slavery, and when I cried
out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me!”
7. E.
The statement “That’s it, honey” serves most directly to draw the audience
closer to the speaker. This is accomplished by the familiar word honey, which
forges an intimacy between the speaker and her audience. Therefore, choice D
(distance the audience from the speaker) cannot be correct. The mood is not
hopeless, so you can eliminate choice C as well. There is nothing ironic about
her statement, as it matches what has come before. Therefore, choice A
(provide an ironic counterpoint to her previous comments) is wrong.
8. E.
Sojourner Truth uses rhetorical devices and persuasive techniques to prove that
women are as capable as men and deserve equal rights. She does not discriminate among women, so choice A (some women, but not all, can take up the
mantle of autonomy) is wrong. Neither is she trying to prove that women are
vastly superior to men, simply that they are equal. Therefore, choice B is wrong.
She is not talking about slavery, so you can cross out choice C, slavery must be
abolished throughout the union. If choice D (women will get the vote, regardless of what men say or do) was true, there would not be any reason for her to
speak at the assembly. Therefore, it cannot be correct.
9. C. Passage 2 suggests that Sojourner Truth was a familiar name from the past
among people who worked to make slavery illegal. You can infer this from the
first sentence (the key phrases are in italics): “Many years ago, the few readers of
radical Abolitionist papers must often have seen the singular name of Sojourner
Truth, announced as a frequent speaker at Anti-Slavery meetings, and as traveling on a sort of self-appointed agency through the country.”
10. A. In passage 2, Harriet Beecher Stowe compares Sojourner Truth to a statue chiefly
to show her admiration for the abolitionist’s dignity and carriage (posture). You
can infer this from the following description (key words are in italics): “still gave
the impression of a physical development which in early youth must have been
as fine a specimen of the torrid zone as Cumberworth’s celebrated statuette of the
Negro Woman at the Fountain.”
11.
E.
Sojourner Truth uses a fiery, incendiary tone in passage 1 to convey her passionate
opposition to slavery. You can deduce this from lines like this: “I could work as
much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well!”
12. D. From both passages, you can infer that Sojourner Truth was an admirable,
extraordinary person. There is no support for choices A (everyone worked to
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
abolish slavery) or C (Harriet Beecher Stowe worked hard for the abolition of
slavery). Since passage 2 describes how Stowe and Truth met late in Truth’s life,
choice E (Harriet Beecher Stowe and Sojourner Truth were close personal
friends) is unlikely to be true. Choice B (slavery was an evil institution) is
true, but is not addressed in passage 2.
Section 4
“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then
get busy and find out how to do it.” Theodore Roosevelt
Assignment: In this statement, former President Roosevelt advocates taking
chances. On the other hand, you can fall flat on your face if you go into a new
school, job, or any challenge without sufficient experience or learning. Discuss
the extent to which you agree or disagree with Roosevelt’s statement. Support
your position by providing reasons and examples from your own experience,
observations, or reading.
The following model essay would receive a 6, the highest score, for its specific details, organization, and style (appropriate word choice, sentence structure, and consistent facility in use of
language). It is an especially intelligent and insightful response.
Theodore Roosevelt said: “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I
can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” I fully agree with Roosevelt’s statement; in
fact, I have found it to be a credo for being successful in life.
My junior year in high school, I started looking for a job to earn some extra money. I
looked around at the various jobs available, but since I had never held a job before, I didn’t
have any useful skills. Eventually, I applied for a job in a supermarket as a cashier, where the
manager asked me, “Can you work a cash register?” I responded truthfully, “I’ve never done it
before, but I bet I could learn.” For any business, hiring someone who needs training is always
a risky venture. It costs the business money to train the new employee, and the employee
could quit the next day or simply prove unwilling or unable to complete the tasks required by
the job. I was able to complete the training quickly and was a very productive employee. I
think the supermarket likely took the chance on me because I was eager and willing to learn
new skills.
This past summer, I worked in an office, inputting data, making copies, sending faxes,
and generally doing odd tasks that saved time for others. One day, my boss approached me
with the address of a website and said, “There’s a bunch of data on this site that I need
sorted out and put into pie charts. Do you know how to do that?” I replied, “No, but I’m
sure I can figure it out.” She gave me a smile and as she walked off, said, “That’s what makes
you such a great employee—you’re such a ‘can-do’ guy.” After two calls to tech support and
one to the site administrator, I was able to retrieve the data from the site and make it into
exactly the charts my boss needed.
My own experience shows that, with determination, courage, and some hard work, you
can get ahead on the job. Embracing challenges is the crucial factor in this equation,
because it shows you have that “can-do” attitude. Theodore Roosevelt’s bravery got him up
San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. That same determination can help you
climb every mountain, too!
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Section 5
1. C. Use consistent tenses in a sentence. The past tense fractured requires the past
tense was rather than the present tense is.
2. D. Use a consistent pronoun. Since the sentence starts with the pronoun you, do
not switch to the pronoun one. Rather, stay with the pronoun you.
3. A. This word group is a fragment because it is missing a complete verb. The sentence should read “were hanging.”
4. C. Not only and but also are correlative conjunctions that operate as a pair. Choice
C should read “but it is also . . .”
5. A. The error is a double negative. Use scarcely or no, but not both together in the
same sentence.
6. C. The plural subject trucks agrees with the plural verb are, not the singular verb is.
Do not be mislead by the singular predicate nominative reason. (A predicate
nominative is a noun or a pronoun used after some form of to be.)
7.
A. A pronoun used in apposition to a noun is in the same case as the noun. An
appositive is a noun or pronoun placed after another noun or pronoun to identify
or explain it. Here, the pronoun (she) must be in the nominate case because it is
in apposition with the noun bond traders, which is also in the nominative case.
8. D. This sentence has a misplaced modifier, a phrase, clause, or word placed too far
from the noun or pronoun it describes. As a result, the sentence fails to convey
its intended meaning. As written, this sentence implies that the famous French
composers, artists, and writers come back to life on Sundays! The sentence
should read: “Daily, except Sunday, you are welcome to visit the cemetery where
famous French composers, artists, and writers lie buried.” or “You are welcome
to visit the cemetery daily except Sunday where famous French composers,
artists, and writers lie buried.”
9. B.
The correct idiom is agreed to, not agreed with. The correct sentence reads: “The
resolution that has just been agreed to by the school board members will result
in a five percent tax increase in the upcoming year.”
10. E.
The sentence is correct as written.
11. B.
Only choice B maintains parallel structure (matching sentence parts).
12. D. Every choice but D creates a fragment. The sentence should read: “It has been
estimated that many people are deprived of much-needed medical care in this
country, especially follow-up visits and preventative medication.”
13. C. Use a comma after an introductory subordinate clause.
PART 2: Diagnostic Verbal SAT and Answer Key
14. E.
Use an adverb (thoroughly) to modify or describe an adjective (more).
15. D. The other choices violate the tense (or time) in the passage.
16. D. As written, the sentence is in the passive voice. In this construction, the subject
receives the action. In the active voice, the subject performs the action named by
the verb. In general, the active voice is preferable to the passive voice because the
active voice is less wordy. The sentence should read: “Ben Franklin first wanted a
turkey instead of an eagle as our national symbol.”
17. E.
As written, the sentence states that the shipment—not the speaker—confirmed
the conversation. This is called a dangling modifier, since the noun or pronoun
is missing. Only choice E corrects the error by providing the missing pronoun
(I). The correct sentence reads: “As I stated in our conversation of March 17, the
shipment of books and magazines that you ordered will be delivered first thing
Friday morning.”
18. B.
As written, the sentence lacks parallel structure (having ideas of the same rank
in the same grammatical structure). The sentence should read: “During a thunderstorm, people who are inside should not talk on the telephone, stand near
any open windows, or use large appliances.” In the revised sentence, “talk on the
telephone” and “stand near any open windows” parallel “use large appliances.”
19. C. Use the superlative case (-est or most) to compare three or more things, as is the
case here since more than three movies are being compared. Never use -er and
more or -est and most together. The correct sentence reads: “Of all the movies
ever made, The Godfather has been recognized as one of America’s greatest
movies.”
20. D. As written, this is a run-on sentence, two independent clauses run together. Just
adding a comma (choice B), creates a comma splice. You can correct the error
by adding a semicolon or a coordinating conjunction (and, for, but, yet, so, nor,
or). Choice D is the only correct version: “Most people who drink coffee do not
know where it comes from; it is actually the fruit of an evergreen tree.”
21. E.
This question asks you to connect two related sentences. Only choice E correctly
joins the two sentences in a logical way. The other conjunctions do not make
sense in context. The correct sentence reads: “Samuel Morse patented the telegraph in 1842, and on March 3, 1843, Morse was granted $30,000 from
Congress to build a trial line between Baltimore and Washington.”
22. C. Choice C—Not only did it allow fast communication over large distances for
the first time, but it also made train travel safer and more efficient—is the best
choice because it shows how the telegraph connected the continent, an example
that supports the previous sentence.
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23. B.
In sentence 7, the word or idea to which It refers is not clear. The sentence must
be revised to specify Morse code. The revised sentence reads: “Morse’s dot-dash
system is a simple means of communicating messages with as few errors as possible, and even when errors occur, the message is still understandable.”
24. B.
The paragraph should read: “Even though it’s rarely used, Morse code still resonates symbolically in today’s society. Almost everyone knows the three-dot,
three-dash, three-dot code for S.O.S., which is still widely used as a distress call.
In fact, almost any sort of signal in patterns of three is considered a call for
help.”
25. D. Ending with a paragraph on Samuel Morse’s legacy would bring the essay full
circle, from the origin of Morse code to its contemporary uses.
P A R T
Strategies for Success
on the Critical Reading Test
3
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
Strategies for Success
on the Critical Reading Test
The critical reading questions on the new SAT assess your ability to read,
understand, analyze, and evaluate material in a short passage, a long passage, or
a pair of related passages. Traditionally, most of the passages concerned literature and the arts. On the new SAT, in contrast, the critical reading will include
a greater emphasis on analytical reading with passages from natural sciences,
humanities, and social studies. Despite the wide variety of subject matter, this
part of the new SAT tests your ability to read and to understand what you
read—not your knowledge of a particular subject.
Some passages may be paired. If that is the case, read the passages as one unit,
comparing and contrasting the ideas, styles, and tone as you do so. Then follow the
instructions for finding the correct answers provided here for the single passages.
Remember: Everything you need to answer the question will be contained in
the passage.
What Strategy Should I Use?
Use the following five-step process to solve critical reading questions.
Step 1. If the passage has an introduction, always read it first. This preface
helps you set the passage in context.
Step 2. Skim the question parts—not the answer choices. This helps you focus
on the information you’re seeking.
Step 3. Read the passage. To be sure you understand what you’re reading, paraphrase and summarize the meaning. Make sure you can restate the
author’s main idea in your own words.
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Step 4. After you have read the passage, read each question and the answer
choices. Choose your answers. Return to the passage to confirm your
choices.
Step 5. For difficult problems, use the process of elimination. Guess if you can
eliminate even one choice.
The critical reading questions on the SAT are presented in chronological
order. For example, you can find the information you need to answer question 10
between the information for questions 9 and 11. Taken together, the questions
present a story map or chronological reading of the passage. Therefore, try to
answer the questions in order rather than skipping around.
Try the Five-Step Strategy now with the following sample passage.
The following passage is an excerpt from a NASA article on Earth microbes on the moon. The article describes
how a remarkable colony of lunar survivors was discovered 30 years after Apollo 1 landed on the moon.
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10
15
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For a human, unprotected space travel is a short trip measured in seconds.
What could be worse for would-be space travelers than a catastrophic breach in
their protective spacesuits, the hightech, multilayered fabric blanket that balloons
under the pressure of a lifesaving flow of oxygen and insulates against the frozen
harshness of deep space vacuum?
But for some kinds of microbes, the harshness of space travel is not unlike their
everyday stressful existence, the successful execution of ingenious survival tricks
learned over billions of years of Earthbound evolution.
Space historians will recall that the journey to the stars has more than one life on its
passenger list: the names of a dozen Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon and
one inadvertent stowaway, a common bacteria, Streptococcus mitis, the only known survivor of unprotected space travel. As astronomers and biologists met recently to discuss
biological limits to life on Earth, the question of how an Earth bacteria could survive in
a vacuum without nutrients, water and radiation protection was less speculative than
might first be imagined.
In 1991, as Apollo 1 Commander Pete Conrad reviewed the transcripts of his conversations relayed from the moon back to Earth, the significance of the only known microbial survivor of harsh interplanetary travel struck him as profound: “I always thought
the most significant thing that we ever found on the whole . . . Moon was that little bacteria who came back and lived and nobody ever said [anything] about it.” As the lunar
voyagers answered a similar question more than a century ago, in Jules Verne’s classic,
From the Earth to the Moon: “To those who maintain that the planets are not inhabited
one may reply: ‘You might be perfectly in the right, if you could only show that the
earth is the best possible world.’ ” The remarkable lunar survivor from Apollo 1 thus
gives scientific pause.
To a biologist, freeze-drying microbes for harsh space travel conjures up rather mundane kitchen science, a simple reenactment of how a yeast packet taken from the freezer
can make bread dough rise prior to baking. But to a new breed of biologist exploring the
harshest conditions on Earth, how a delicate microbe manages to counteract vacuum,
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
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boiling temperatures, burning radiation, and crushing pressures deep in the frozen icecaps is the study of life itself.
For example, only now after many years of biological progress can scientists begin to
scan down the genetic script underlying the causes of malaria, syphilis, cholera and
tuberculosis. Within a few years, it is estimated that 50 to 100 complete genomes of
living organisms will be entirely deciphered, presenting the first opportunities for deep
evolutionary comparisons and insights into exactly the remarkable means by which the
common Strep. bacteria could revive itself after years on the moon.
How this remarkable feat was accomplished only by Strep. bacteria remains speculative, but it does recall that even our present Earth does not always look as environmentally friendly as it might have 4 billion years ago when bacteria first appeared on this
planet.
1. In line 7, ingenious most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
rocklike
youthful
resourceful
arduous
complex
2. In line 11, the phrase “inadvertent stowaway” used in reference to
Streptococcus mitis means that
(A) someone cleverly hid the bacteria to use later in an experiment
(B) bacteria commonly hide on space missions but it is difficult to find
them later
(C) the bacteria have a will, like any living organism, and planned the ruse
itself
(D) none of the astronauts or mission specialists realized the bacteria were
on the spacecraft
(E) we must be very careful of all bacteria, because they are far more harmful than we suspect
3. You can infer that Apollo 1 Commander Pete Conrad found the survival of
the bacteria “profound” because
(A) he understands its implications for life on other worlds
(B) he is terrified of bringing new germs to Earth
(C) he believes the entire incident is make-believe, like something you
would find in a science-fiction book
(D) he does not understand what it means
(E) he feels that the rest of the mission was disappointing and worries that
funding will be cut for space travel
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4. Which of the following is the best statement of the main idea of this passage?
(A) There are more things in space and on Earth than we can ever
understand.
(B) Small objects can be far more dangerous than large ones.
(C) Genetic research cannot be successful without the input from space
missions.
(D) Streptococcus bacteria are mighty and powerful and might even unlock
the origins of life.
(E) Bacteria are tremendously important to our understanding of life.
5. You can infer that the author of this passage
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
is not a scientist
admires bacteria
was an astronaut
is a well-respected microbiologist
believes in extraterrestrial life
Answers
1. C. The word ingenious (line 7) most nearly means “resourceful.” You can
infer this from the context clues “successful execution” and “survival
tricks.” These clues tell you that ingenious must be a positive response to
the threat of extinction.
2. D. The phrase “inadvertent stowaway” used in reference to Streptococcus
mitis means that none of the astronauts or mission specialists realized
the bacteria were on the spacecraft. You can figure this out from the
contrast between the passenger list that contained “the names of a dozen
Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon” and the passenger not
listed, the bacteria.
3. A. You can infer that Apollo 1 Commander Pete Conrad found the survival
of the bacteria “profound” because he understands its implications for life
on other worlds. This inference comes from the reference to Jules Verne’s
classic, From the Earth to the Moon. The key passage is: “To those who
maintain that the planets are not inhabited one may reply: ‘You might be
perfectly in the right, if you could only show that the earth is the best possible world.’ ” The remarkable lunar survivor from Apollo 1 thus gives scientific pause. Here, the writer suggests that the bacteria raise the possibility
of extraterrestrial life.
4. E. The main idea of this passage can best be stated as: “Bacteria are tremendously important to our understanding of life.” Choice A (There are more
things in space and on Earth than we can ever understand) is incorrect
because the writer describes bacteria in great detail. From this detail, you
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
can conclude that we do know a lot about bacteria and we are learning
more each day. Choice B (Small objects can be far more dangerous than
large ones) is not proven in the passage because there is no suggestion that
the bacteria are very dangerous. There is no proof for choice C (genetic
research cannot be successful without the input from space missions). The
same is true for choice D (Streptococcus bacteria are mighty and powerful
and might even unlock the origins of life). It is too big a leap to these conclusions from the information presented in the passage.
5. B. You can infer that the author admires bacteria. There is no support for any
of the other choices in the passage. Specifically, you cannot conclude that
the author is not a scientist (choice A), an astronaut (choice B), or a wellrespected microbiologist (choice D).
Look back at the passage and the questions. You’ll notice that they fall into
specific types. The first question, for example, asks about vocabulary. The second
question requires you to define a phrase; the third question, to make an inference
or figure out an unstated meaning. The fourth question asks you to find the
main idea. The final question has you figure out something about the writer.
Let’s look at each question type—and more—in turn.
How Can I Figure Out What a Passage Means?
As you learned in step 3, always begin by figuring out what a passage means.
You can do this by following these steps:
1. Read the passage through once and see how much of the author’s meaning
you can immediately grasp.
2. Then go back through the passage a second time and define all the unfamiliar
words, concepts, ideas, and references. Decode any images and symbols, too.
3. Paraphrase the passage by restating it in your own words. If you can do
this, you likely have a clear understanding of the meaning.
When writers don’t directly state the main idea of a passage, you have to
make inferences to find the main idea. You can figure out the implied main idea
by asking yourself the following questions:
■
What is this passage about?
■
What does the passage describe?
■
What does the passage suggest?
■
What is the author trying to communicate about the subject?
■
What can be inferred from the information stated in the passage?
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Read the following passages and answer the practice SAT questions that follow. Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following passage.
1
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Ancient savage tribes played a primitive kind of football. About 2,500 years ago there
was a ball-kicking game played by the Athenians, Spartans, and Corinthians, which
the Greeks called Episkuros. The Romans had a somewhat similar game called
Harpastum. According to several historical sources, the Romans brought the game
with them when they invaded the British Isles in the first century, AD. The game
today known as “football” in the United States can be traced directly back to the
English game of rugby, although there have been many changes to the game. Football
was played informally on university fields more than a hundred years ago. In 1840, a
yearly series of informal “scrimmages” started at Yale University. It took more than
twenty-five years, however, for the game to become part of college life. The first formal intercollegiate football game was held between Princeton and Rutgers teams on
November 6, 1869 on Rutgers’s home field at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and
Rutgers won.
1. The subject of this passage is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ancient Greek sports
brutality in sports
rugby
sports in the United States
the history of football
2. The writer’s main idea is best stated as:
(A) The Romans, Athenians, Spartans, and Corinthians all played a game
like football.
(B) Football is a very old game; its history stretches back to ancient days.
(C) American football comes from a British game called “rugby.”
(D) Football is a more popular game than baseball, even though baseball is
called “America’s pastime.”
(E) Football is a brutal sport with roots in barbarous cultures.
3. The best title for this passage would be
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Play Ball!
Football in America
The Origins of Football
America’s Pastime
Savage Games
Question 4 is based on the following passage.
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
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It takes no calendar to tell root and stem that the calm days of mid-summer are here.
Last spring’s sprouted seed comes to fruit. None of these things depends on a calendar
of the days and months. They are their own calendar, marks on a span of time that
reaches far back into the shadows of time. The mark is there for all to see, in every
field and meadow and treetop, as it was last year and then years ago and when the centuries were young.
The time is here. This is the point in the great continuity when these things happen, and will continue to happen year after year. Any summer arrives at this point,
only to lead on to the next and the next, and so to summer again. These things we can
count on; these will happen again and again, so long as the earth turns.
4. The passage indicates that the author experiences a feeling of
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
frustration
fear of the forces of nature
pessimism
serene confidence
regret at the rapid passage of time
Answers
1. E. The subject of this passage is the history of football. You can figure this
out from the very first sentence: Ancient savage tribes played a primitive
kind of football. Now go through the passages and find other references
to football. You will find that the author mentions football over and over
to help the reader follow the subject.
2. B. This passage has an unstated main idea, so you have to infer it from
details in the reading. Only choice B correctly gives the main idea of the
passage: Football is a very old game; its history stretches back to ancient
days. Eliminate choices A and C because they are too narrow to be the
main idea. They give supporting details from the paragraph, not the
main idea. Eliminate choices D and E because they contain information
that is not included in the paragraph.
3. C. The best title for this passage would be The Origins of Football. The other
choices are too narrow, describing only part of the passage, not its entirety.
4. D. The passage indicates that the author experiences a feeling of serene
confidence, as the phrases “calm days,” “great continuity,” and “we can
count on” reveal. The author has no fear of nature nor any regret at the
passage of time; rather, we sense, through the phrases cited, a calm
acceptance of the seasons.
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How Do I Answer Vocabulary Questions?
Some SAT questions require you to define a word as it is used in the passage.
The questions may be on difficult, unfamiliar words. Just as often, however, the
vocabulary questions on the critical reading will test easier words that have
uncommon meanings, as they are used in context. In either case, follow these
four steps as you work through these test items:
1. Go back to the passage and find the word.
2. Fill in your own word for the word you are asked to define.
3. Eliminate the answer choices that don’t match your word.
4. Choose the best answer.
As you look for the correct meaning, always use context clues.
• Definition clues may be provided right in the passage. The definition is a
synonym (a word that means the same). It may come before or after the
unfamiliar word. For example: “Tsunamis, or seismic sea-waves, are gravity
waves set in motion by underwater disturbances associated with earthquakes.” Seismic sea-waves is a synonym for the unfamiliar word tsunamis.
• Contrast clues tell you what something is not rather than what it is. Often,
you’ll find contrast clues set off with unlike, not, or instead of, for example,
“Then arrange a handful of mulch, not fresh leaves, on the top.” Mulch
must be the opposite of fresh leaves. It must mean “decayed leaves.”
• Commonsense clues encourage you to use what you already know to define
the unfamiliar word, for example, “Airplanes make daily ascents to gather
data.” Since airplanes go into the air, ascent must mean “to rise.”
Read the following passage and answer the practice SAT questions that follow.
Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following passage.
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5
10
The nation had few taxes in its early history. From 1791 to 1802, the United States
government was supported by internal taxes on distilled spirits, carriages, refined
sugar, tobacco, property sold at auction, corporate bonds, and slaves. The high costs of
the War of 1812 brought about the nation’s first sales tax on gold, silverware, jewelry,
and watches. In 1817, however, Congress expunged all internal taxes, relying on tariffs
on imported goods to provide sufficient funds for running the government.
In 1862, in order to support the Civil War effort, Congress enacted the nation’s first
income tax law. It was a forerunner of our modern income tax in that it was based on
the principles of graduated taxation and of withholding income at the source. During
the Civil War, a person earning from $600 to $10,000 per year paid tax at the rate of 3%.
Those with incomes of more than $10,000 paid taxes at a higher rate. Additional sales
and excise taxes were added, and an “inheritance” tax also made its debut. In 1866, internal revenue collections reached their highest point in the nation’s 90-year-history—more
than $310 million, an amount not reached again until around 1911.
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
1. As used in line 5, expunged most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
collected
retained
revamped
reconsidered
eliminated
2. In line 8, forerunner is used to mean
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
sequel
supplement
outcome
precursor
continuance
3. Which best captures the meaning of graduated in line 9?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
equal
progressive
selective
mature
intelligent
Answers
1. E. As used in line 5, the best synonym for expunged is eliminated. You can
infer this from the word however, which shows contrast—the opposite
meaning of the clause that came before.
2. D. In line 8, forerunner is used to mean “precursor.” Both fore and pre mean
“before.”
3. B. From its context, you can deduce that graduated most nearly means
“progressive.” You can infer this from the fact that the tax rate rises:
“During the Civil War, a person earning from $600 to $10,000 per year
paid tax at the rate of 3%. Those with incomes of more than $10,000
paid taxes at a higher rate.”
How Do I Answer Questions on Style?
Rhetoric is the strategic use of language to accomplish the author’s purpose.
Writers create their distinctive style, their unique way of writing, by the rhetorical choices they make. Style is made up of elements such as diction, sentence
length and structure, figures of speech, tone, and mood.
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Some of the questions on the SAT concern an analysis of rhetorical
language and techniques. These questions are designed not only to
determine how well you know the elements of style but also to judge how
well you can integrate these literary techniques with the writer’s purpose
and main idea.
Read the following passages and answer the practice SAT questions that follow. Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following passage.
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Nature is by the art of man, as in many other things, so in this also imitated, that it
can be made an artificial animal. For seeing life is but a motion of limbs, the beginning whereof is in some principal part within, why may we not say that all automata
(engines that move themselves by springs and wheels as doth a watch) have an artificial life? For what is the heart but a spring; and the nerve but so many strings; and the
joints but so many wheels, giving motion to the whole body such as it was intended by
the artificer? Art goes yet further, imitating the rational and most excellent work of
nature, man.
1. The phrase “artificial animal” in line 2 does which of the following in the
opening sentence?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
presents a judgment on the artificial man
introduces the writer’s main idea
emphasizes the theoretical rather than the practical side of the argument
shifts the focus from generalities to individual cases
introduces the speaker
2. The writer uses the word artificer in line 7 to connote
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
a compassionate scientist
a monster who perverts nature for his own ends
a master builder
an inventor who has failed in the past but is likely to succeed in the
future
(E) a pompous and insolent bureaucrat
3. The passage is most likely part of
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
an argumentative speech
a historical essay
a general audience magazine article
a light-hearted novel
a book introduction
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
Questions 4 to 6 are based on the following passage.
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Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth: I sat at a table where were
rich food and wine in abundance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away
hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices. I thought
that there was no need of ice to freeze them. They talked to me of the age of the wine
and the fame of the vintage; but I thought of an older, newer, and purer wine, of a
more glorious vintage, which they had not got, and could not buy. The style, the house
and grounds and “entertainment” pass for nothing with me. I called on the king, but
he made me wait in his hall, and conducted like a man incapacitated for hospitality.
There was a man in my neighborhood who lived in a hollow tree. His manners were
truly regal. I should have done better had I called on him.
4. The word ice in line 4 is used symbolically to suggest
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
people with spiritually empty lives
rude and vulgar guests
curt and tasteless hosts
money wasted on frivolous social pretense
the difficulty that rich people, especially monarchs, endure
5. Throughout the passage, the diction suggests
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
the rewards of gainfully earned possessions
the pleasures of fine food and drink
the delight of being with close friends and warm hosts
the hollowness of materialism and the fulfillment of simplicity
the importance of showing consideration and good manners
6. The passage as a whole introduces contrasts between all the following except
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
wealth and poverty
integrity and pretense
intelligence and misunderstanding
graciousness and reserve
royalty and commoners
Answers
1. B. The phrase “artificial animal” introduces the writer’s main idea: “Art
goes yet further, imitating the rational and most excellent work of
nature, man.”
2. C. The writer uses the word artificer to connote a master builder, for only a
master builder could construct something as complex as a human.
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3. E. The passage is most likely part of a book introduction. Use the process of
elimination to solve this critical reading question. The passage is far too
serious to be a light-hearted novel (choice D). It’s far too specific to be a
general audience magazine article (choice C). It’s not based on history, so a
historical essay (choice B) cannot be the best choice. Finally, an argumentative speech (choice A) isn’t on target because the author is not arguing.
Rather, the author is stating his or her viewpoint. In an argument, the
author will refute the other side, which is not the case here.
4. A. The word ice is used symbolically to suggest people with spiritually empty
lives. You can infer this from the comparison of their hospitality to the ices.
“I thought that there was no need of ice to freeze them,” the writer says.
5. D. Throughout the passage, the diction suggests the hollowness of materialism and the fulfillment of simplicity. Key words and phrases include:
“but sincerity and truth were not,” “I went away hungry,” “the hospitality
was as cold as the ices.” Also focus on the following line: “They talked to
me of the age of the wine and the fame of the vintage; but I thought of
an older, newer, and purer wine, of a more glorious vintage, which they
had not got, and could not buy.”
6. C. The passage as a whole introduces contrasts between all the following
except intelligence and misunderstanding. The hosts show no intelligence, and there is no misunderstanding their blatant materialism.
Practice Critical Reading Passages and Questions
Read the following passages and answer the practice SAT questions that follow.
Questions 1 to 8 are based on the following passage.
1
5
10
15
How many are the solitary hours I spend, ruminating upon the past, and anticipating
the future, whilst you, overwhelmed with the cares of state, have but a few moments
you can devote to any individual. All domestic pleasures and enjoyments are absorbed
in the great and important duty you owe your country, for our country is, as it were, a
secondary god, and the first and greatest parent. It is to be preferred to parents, wives,
children, friends, and all things, the gods only excepted; for, if our country perishes, it
is as impossible to save an individual, as to preserve one of the fingers of a mortified
hand. Thus I do suppress every wish, and silence every murmur, acquiescing in a
painful separation from the companion of my youth, and the friend of my heart.
I believe’t near ten days since I wrote you a line. I have not felt in any humor to
entertain you if I had taken up my pen. Perhaps some unbecoming invective might
have fallen from it. The eyes of our rulers have been closed, and a lethargy has seized
almost every member. I fear a fatal security has taken possession of them. Whilst the
building is in flames, they tremble at the expense of water to quench it. In short, two
months have elapsed since the evacuation of Boston, and very little has been done in
that time to secure it, or the harbor, from future invasion. The people are all in a
flame, and no one among us, that I have heard of, even mentions expense. They think,
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
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universally, that there has been an amazing neglect somewhere. Many have turned out
as volunteers to work upon Noodle’s Island, and many more would go upon Nantasket,
if the business was once set on foot. “‘Tis a maxim of state that power and liberty are
like heat and moisture. Where they are well mixed, everything prospers; where they are
single, they are destructive.”
A government of more stability is much wanted in this colony, and they are ready to
receive it from the hands of Congress. And since I have begun with a maxim of state, I
will add another, namely, that a people may let a king fall, yet still remain a people; but if
a king let his people slip from him, he is no longer a king. And as this is most certainly
our case, why not proclaim to the world, in decisive terms, your own importance?
Shall we not be despised by foreign powers, for hesitating so long at a word?
1. Who is most likely the intended audience for this letter?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
a stranger to the writer, someone highly placed in public office
a general newspaper audience
an ambassador with great political influence
someone with whom the writer is intimately associated
a friend from the writer’s childhood from whom she had become
estranged
2. How does the audience affect the tone and content of the passage?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
The tone is more relaxed and the content more personal.
The tone is more formal and the content more ceremonial.
The tone is more ironic and the content more scathing.
The tone is more sarcastic and the content more personal.
The tone is more fiery and the content more specific.
3. The writer uses the comparison between the nation and a hand to suggest that
(A) the hand that controls America controls the world
(B) a country is only as great as its hired hands, its working men and
women
(C) individual parts work in unison; the part cannot survive apart from the
whole
(D) in the present situation, individual sacrifice is inevitable
(E) America needs a helping hand from outsiders
4. As used in line 10, the word humor most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
amusement
witticism
strain
tone
mood
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5. In the context of the passage, the phrase “The eyes of our rulers have been
closed, and a lethargy has seized almost every member” in lines 12 and 13 is
used to convey the writer’s
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
realization that the country is in a dire position
anger at defeat
relief at the leaders’ ability to take a break from their hard work
preference for assertive leaders who are not afraid to be confrontational
frustration at the leaders’ inaction in the face of a serious situation
6. In the phrase “Whilst the building is in flames,” (lines 13–14) the building
symbolizes
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
the writer’s home
America
Great Britain
the state capitol
freedom
7. This symbol in question 6 is most effective because it
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
conveys the writer’s feeling that the situation is desperate
communicates the writer’s belief that time is on their side
shows the country’s determination to survive
is a commonplace symbol used in many poems, essays, and novels
describes the country’s terrible drought and its appalling results
8. The writer’s goal in this passage is to
(A) convince readers that she alone has the right solutions to the current
problems
(B) spark sympathy for America’s beleaguered leaders
(C) persuade the Congress to resign so new members can be elected
(D) convince her reader to take action
(E) stir up pity for the difficulties the writer has experienced living in
Massachusetts
Answers
1. D. The last sentence in the first paragraph reveals that the audience for this
letter is someone with whom the writer is intimately associated: “Thus I
do suppress every wish, and silence every murmur, acquiescing in a
painful separation from the companion of my youth, and the friend of
my heart.” The last phrase in the sentence, “friend of my heart,” shows
that the audience is a lover. It was, in fact, the writer’s husband.
PART 3: Strategies for Success on the Critical Reading Test
2. A. The intimate audience creates a more relaxed tone and more personal
content. This is the direct opposite of choice B: The tone is more formal
and the content more ceremonial. While choices C (The tone is more
ironic and the content more scathing) and D (The tone is more sarcastic
and the content more personal) could fit with a personal audience, the
diction reveals that this is not the case here.
3. C. The writer uses the analogy between the nation and a hand to suggest
that individual parts work in unison; the part cannot survive apart from
the whole. This is revealed through a close reading of the relevant portion of the text: “. . . if our country perishes, it is as impossible to save an
individual, as to preserve one of the fingers of a mortified hand.”
4. E. As used in the first sentence of the second paragraph, the word humor
most nearly means “mood.” The writer has not been in the right frame of
mind to write pleasantries, and so she has refrained from writing until
now. As you answer vocabulary questions, remember to start by thinking
of your own synonym for the word in question. Then look for the best
match from among the choices.
5. E. In the context of the passage, the phrase “the eyes of our rulers have been
closed, and a lethargy has seized almost every member” is used as a
metaphor to convey the writer’s frustration at the leaders’ inaction in the
face of a serious situation. The writer suggests that the leaders have abdicated their responsibility rather than taking action.
6. B. In the phrase “Whilst the building is in flames,” the building symbolizes
America. This is shown by her references throughout the passage to
Boston and other locations in the colonies.
7. A. This symbol is most effective because it conveys the writer’s feeling that
the situation is desperate. The strong image of a building burning down
conveys her sense of urgency.
8. D. The writer’s goal is to convince her reader to take action. She states this
outright in the last paragraph: “A government of more stability is much
wanted in this colony, and they are ready to receive it from the hands of
Congress. . . . And as this is most certainly our case, why not proclaim to
the world, in decisive terms, your own importance?”
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Strategies for Success on
Sentence Completions
4
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
PART 4: Strategies for Success on Sentence Completions
Strategies for Success
on Sentence Completions
What Are Sentence Completion Test Items?
Sentence completion questions test two areas of English language proficiency:
■
A broad range of vocabulary, measured by your ability to understand the
meaning of the sentences
■
The ability to understand the logic of sentences, measured by your ability
to insert the correct words
Sentence completion questions consist of a sentence with one or two blanks
indicating a missing word or words within the sentences. With one blank, each
answer choice will provide one word to fill in the blank. For sentences with two
blanks, each answer choice will provide a pair of words, the first one to be
inserted in the first blank and the second one in the second blank. Here is a
typical one-blank sentence completion question:
Through his ——— he managed to cheat his partners out of their earnings.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
inefficiency
ineptness
machinations
regime
dealings
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The Basic Five-Step Plan
Use the following five steps to solve sentence completion test items:
1. Read the sentence through to get a general sense of its meaning. As you
read, ask yourself the following questions:
• What does the sentence mean?
• What word(s) will best fill in the blank(s)?
• What part of speech is necessary to complete the sentence correctly? The
part of speech may be a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb, for example.
2. Anticipate the answer. Determine whether the missing word(s) must support or contrast with another idea in the sentence.
• Words such as so, for, because, therefore, and as a result signal support.
• Words such as although, not, but, and however signal contrast.
3. Read the five answer choices. Always check every one of the choices.
Remember that the instructions for all the verbal questions ask you to
choose the best answer. One choice may appear to fit, but it still might not
be the best of the five choices. You have to try all the choices to find the
best one.
4. If you have to guess, use these methods:
• First eliminate all choices that don’t make sense.
• As a last resort, select a difficult vocabulary word.
5. Check your answer by reading the entire sentence with the word(s) you have
selected in place. This will help you ensure that the sentence makes sense.
Now reread the sample question. This time around, try approaching the
question using the five-step approach you just learned. Then read the explanation in the answer that follows.
Through his ——— he managed to cheat his partners out of their earnings.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
inefficiency
ineptness
machinations
regime
dealings
Answer
C. After you have read the sentence through for sense, ask yourself, “Through
what (blank) does one cheat?” The word cheat is a clue that the sentence is
PART 4: Strategies for Success on Sentence Completions
dealing with underhanded behavior, deception, or dishonesty. Further, the
missing word must be a noun—a thing—to make sense in the sentence. In
addition, the missing word must support the main idea of the sentence;
there is no contrast here. Therefore, you might come up with answers such
as this one: “Through unfair means, evil planning, or conspiracy, he managed to cheat his partners out of their earnings.”
Now read the five answer choices, looking for the best answer. Try each
choice, as follows:
(A) Inefficiency means “ineffectiveness or inability to produce the desired effect
with minimum use of time or effort.” Although inefficiency would fit the
general meaning of the sentence, it does not imply a deliberate attempt to
cheat.
(B) Ineptness means nearly the same as choice A, so neither word implies the
deliberate attempt to defraud implicit in the word cheat. Since both
choices are essentially the same, then why would (this choice) be better
than choice A? It’s not.
(C) Machinations are “a secret plot or scheme.” This is the best choice so far,
since it is the only word that implies an intentional effort to deceive.
(D) Regime means “a political system or manner of government or rule.” It
does not fit the meaning of the sentence as shown in the word cheat.
(E) Dealings means “business transactions.” It is even more neutral than
choices A and B, so it clearly doesn’t fit with cheat.
Even though you may feel sure of your answer, be sure to check it by rereading the entire
sentence with the word(s) you have selected. This step helps you double-check that the sentence makes sense.
Strategies for Tackling Sentence Completion Questions
The strategies that follow apply to any sentence completion question. You will
get a chance to revisit these tips as we look at more sample questions later in
this chapter.
1. Pace yourself. Since sentence completion questions become more difficult
as the section progresses, allocate your time carefully. If you spend too
much time on the earlier, easier questions, you won’t have enough time to
complete the final, more difficult items.
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2. Know your vocabulary. Define the answer choices and the most important
words in the sentence. These key words will usually be nouns, verbs,
adjectives, or adverbs. Look for roots, suffixes, and prefixes as you decode
words.
3. One letter can make all the difference, so read each answer choice carefully.
Dessert and desert, for instance, may appear the same on first glance, but
dessert is a sweet served at the end of a meal, while desert is a dry, arid
expanse of land.
4. Always understand the sentence before you try the choices out. You must
understand the meaning of a sentence before you can start filling in the
blanks. Otherwise, most of the words will seem to fit.
5. Watch out for little words that can have a big effect on sentence meaning.
Little words like not, but, and and can make a big difference in what a sentence means. Be sure to pick the answer choice that makes sense in the
context of the entire sentence.
6. Look for words that have the same meaning. If the words mean the same
thing—as with inefficiency and ineptness in the sample question—then
obviously neither word can be the correct choice. As a result, you can safely
eliminate both words and concentrate on the other choices.
7. Check part of speech and verb tenses. Effective sentences are parallel: The
grammatical elements are in the same form. For example, all the verbs in a
sentence will end in -ing or -ed. When you are considering answer choices,
look for ones that match with the rest of the sentence.
8. With two-blank questions, test the first word in each pair to save time.
When the test item has two blanks, first read the sentence all the way
through. Then try the first word of each answer pair in the first blank in
the sentence. If it doesn’t make sense, you can eliminate the pair of words
without trying the second word at all.
9. Don’t be thrown by nonsensical answer choices. Some answer choices will
simply not make sense. Don’t waste your time puzzling over a choice to
determine exactly why it doesn’t make sense. If you have better choices, just
eliminate the choice that doesn’t make sense.
10. Look for the best choice, not the perfect choice. Sometimes the best choice
from among the five choices given is good but not necessarily
the word that you would have chosen if you had written that sentence
yourself. Nevertheless, if it is the best choice available, that’s the one
you want.
PART 4: Strategies for Success on Sentence Completions
Using Contrast Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words
As you try to fill in the blanks by anticipating what word fits best, determine if
the missing words contrast with another idea stated in the sentence. The following box lists the words and phrases used most often in standardized sentence
completion questions to show contrast.
CONTRAST WORDS
although, though
yet
conversely
despite
not
on the other hand
in contrast
even though
but
nevertheless
on the contrary
in spite of
rather than
nonetheless
however
instead of
If you spot any these words or phrases in a sentence completion question,
look for an answer that contrasts with an idea stated elsewhere in the sentence.
Try it now.
Although the concert had been enjoyable, it was overly ——— and the three
encores seemed ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
extensive, garrulous
protracted, excessive
inaudible, superfluous
sublime, fortuitous
contracted, lengthy
Answer
B. The contrast word although tells you that the second half of the sentence
will state an idea that is the opposite of the idea stated in the first half. The
first half of the sentence states that the concert had been enjoyable; therefore, you should look for words that suggest the opposite of enjoyable. The
phrase “overly protracted” tells you the concert was drawn out and thus too
long. This would clearly decrease the listener’s enjoyment. Excessive encores
are overdone and not necessary. This, too, is something the audience would
not find enjoyable.
In choice A, extensive fits in the first blank, but garrulous, which means “very
talkative,” does not fit in the second blank. Eliminate choice B because inaudible does not make sense with enjoyable; the same is true with sublime (inspiring) in choice C and contracted in choice E.
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Answer two-blank questions one blank at a time. Work on the first blank, and then on the
second blank.
Using Support Clues to Answer Sentence Completion Questions
with Two Missing Words
Support clues are words used to show supporting statements between main
clauses. The following box lists the support clues used most often.
SUPPORT CLUES
so
for
because
therefore
moreover
besides
as a result thus
consequently accordingly likewise
in addition
due to this additionally and
also
furthermore
When you see one of these words or phrases in a sentence completion question, look for answer choices that support the other part of the sentence. The
correct choice will most often be a synonym or near-synonym for a key word
or words in the sentence. Try it now.
The team was ——— so it was ——— with cheers from its fans.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
undisciplined, regaled
defeated, plagued
famous, unhappy
victorious, rewarded
ecstatic, challenged
Answer
D. The team was victorious (it won). As a result, it was rewarded with cheers
from its fans. If the fans cheered, the team must have done something good,
so you can eliminate choices A and B. It makes no sense that a famous team
would be unhappy with cheers, so choice C is wrong. Likewise, it makes no
sense for an ecstatic team to be challenged with cheers, so choice E is
wrong.
Using Summary Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words
Sometimes the blanks require a word that condenses an idea already mentioned
in the sentence. In this case, you will be using summary clues to find the missing
PART 4: Strategies for Success on Sentence Completions
words. The transitions listed in the following box show that ideas are being
summarized.
SUMMARY CLUES
as a result
in short
hence
in brief
concluded
in summary
in conclusion
finally
realized
on the whole
decided
Look for a summary word as you work though the following test item.
After seeing shocking films of animals maimed and tortured by traps set by
unscrupulous hunters, Leeza concluded that buying a fur coat would be
———, even ———.
(A) repulsive, immoral
(B) mandatory, immortal
(C) subliminal, sinful
(D) glamorous, priceless
(E) redundant, exorbitant
Answer
A. Summarizing the first part of the sentence, you know that the films of the
creatures were shocking since they showed the “animals being maimed and
tortured by traps.” Therefore, the summary must show something highly
offensive. Only choice A shows this: The speaker feels purchasing a coat would
be not only repulsive but also immoral (not moral). Choice B is wrong because
mandatory is the opposite of the meaning required by the sentence. The same
is true with glamorous in choice D. Subliminal in choice C has nothing to do
with the sentence; neither does redundant (superfluous) in choice E.
Using Cause-and-Effect Clues to Answer Sentence Completion
Questions with Two Missing Words
The cause is why something happens. The effect is the result, what happens due
to the cause. Writers use specific signal words to identify cause-and-effect relationships. The following box lists some of the most common ones you will
encounter on the sentence completion items.
CAUSE-AND-EFFECT WORDS
accordingly
for
in order to
because
hence
so . . . that
consequently
if . . . then
therefore
as a result
since
due to
so
so that
thus
when . . . then
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Some signal words, such as because, for, and thus, can be used to show more than one
type of relationship. As a result, you always have to analyze the sentence and the choices
completely to make sure that you have found the correct relationship from among the ideas.
If you ——— your energy wisely, then you will never ——— for it.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
burn, cauterize
use, want
husband, economize
expend, wish
economize, alter
Answer
B. The cause is stated in the first part of the sentence; the effect or result, in the
second part. If you use your energy wisely, then you will never want for it. It
may be easier to see the cause-and-effect relationship if you replace the pronoun with the noun: “then you will never want for energy [it].”
You can eliminate choice A because it is illogical: burn and cauterize mean
the same thing and so do not show cause and effect. The same is true of
choice C. Choice D is wrong because expending your energy wisely does not
mean that you will never wish for it again. Similarly, choice E does not make
sense.
Practice SAT Exercises
DIRECTIONS: For each of the following sentences, choose the word or pair of
words which, when inserted into the sentence, best fits the meaning of the
sentence as a whole.
1. Louis XIV was the ——— of ——— elegance because he wore a different
outfit for practically every hour of the day.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
epitome, sartorial
paragon, tawdry
acme, gourmet
architect, gastronomic
root, European
2. Joan was abrasive and curt with her clients; as a result, her supervisor put a
letter in her file citing her ——— and ———.
PART 4: Strategies for Success on Sentence Completions
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
enthusiasm, impertinence
lethargy, stamina
diligence, acumen
rudeness, abrasiveness
discourtesy, incompetence
3. The ship was in a(n) ——— position, having lost its rudder; therefore, it
was subject to the ——— of the prevailing winds.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
inexcusable, direction
unintended, riptides
dangerous, breezes
untenable, vagaries
favored, weaknesses
4. A good trial lawyer will argue only what is central to an issue, eliminating
——— information or anything else that might ——— the client.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
seminal, amuse
erratic, enhance
extraneous, jeopardize
prodigious, extol
reprehensible, initiate
5. We waited patiently for the storm to slacken, but it ——— refused
to ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
persistently, strengthen
stoutly, abate
consistently, perambulate
wanly, sublimate
sternly, mollify
6. Giving preference to his brother’s son for that office smacks of ———
to me!
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
nihilism
chauvinism
sycophancy
pleonasm
nepotism
7. Favoring one child over another will only intensify ——— rivalry.
(A) fraternal
(B) sororal
(C) parental
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(D) sibling
(E) maternal
8. The general ——— his order; he had the traitor shot instead of ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
countermanded, hanged
reinforced, hung
confirmed, roasted
rescinded, hung
reviewed, canonized
9. The ——— from the factory was ———; consequently, the thick, black
smoke was evil-smelling and noxious.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
effluvium, noisome
overflow, salubrious
outflow, aromatic
view, provoking
effluent, redolent
10. She was known for her ———; in short, no one was more ———
than she.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
virtue, wanton
economy, profligate
altruism, selfless
conservatism, leftist
communism, conservative
Answers
1. A. The correct sentence reads: “Louis XIV was the epitome of sartorial elegance because he wore a different outfit for practically every hour of
the day.” Louis was the height (epitome) of fine dressing (sartorial
elegance).
2. D. The correct sentence reads: “Joan was abrasive and curt with her
clients; as a result, her supervisor put a letter in her file citing her rudeness and abrasiveness.” The clues are “abrasive and curt.” Since there is
no contrast word, match all words in the second clause to the meaning
of the words in the first clause.
3. D. The correct sentence reads: “The ship was in an untenable position,
having lost its rudder; therefore, it was subject to the vagaries of the
prevailing winds.” An untenable position is one that cannot be
defended. Vagaries means “erratic actions.”
PART 4: Strategies for Success on Sentence Completions
4. C. The correct sentence reads: “A good trial lawyer will argue only what is
central to an issue, eliminating extraneous information or anything else
that might jeopardize the client.” When someone is jeopardized, he or
she is placed in a position of danger or trouble.
5. B. The correct sentence reads: “We waited patiently for the storm to
slacken, but it stoutly refused to abate.” Stoutly is not used here to mean
“heavy” or “overweight.” Rather, it means “stubbornly.” When something refuses to abate, it refuses to lessen.
6. B. The correct sentence reads: “Giving preference to his brother’s son for
that office smacks of nepotism to me!” Nepotism means “patronage or
favoritism shown on the basis of family relationships.”
7. D. The correct sentence reads: “Favoring one child over another will only
intensify sibling rivalry.” Sibling refers to brothers and sisters.
8. A. The correct sentence reads: “The general countermanded his order; he
had the traitor shot instead of hanged.” When an order is countermanded, it is reversed. Choice D is wrong because people are hanged;
pictures are hung.
9. E. The correct sentence reads: “The effluent from the factory was redolent;
consequently, the thick, black smoke was evil-smelling and noxious.”
The clue word consequently shows results. As a result of the redolent
(smelly) effluent (material flowing forth), the black smoke was thick
and odorous. You might have been able to define effluent from its root
fluent—to flow.
10. C. The correct sentence reads: “She was known for her altruism; in short,
no one was more selfless than she.” Altruistic people are selfless; they
give of themselves freely by doing good deeds for other people.
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Strategies for Success
on the Multiple-Choice
Writing Questions
5
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
Strategies for Success on
the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
What Are the Multiple-Choice Writing Items?
The new Writing test contains multiple-choice questions. Remember that the
Writing test is 50 minutes long. During that time, you will have to write one
essay (25 minutes) and answer multiple-choice questions (25 minutes).
The multiple-choice writing items fall into three different categories:
identifying sentence errors, improving sentences, and improving paragraphs.
Here are some of the topics you can expect to encounter on this part of the
new SAT:
Shifts in verb tense
Pronoun usage
Parallel structure (matching sentence parts)
Subject and verb agreement
Subordination and coordination
Logical comparisons
Misplaced modifiers (describing words)
Dangling modifiers
Word order
Unclear pronouns
Wordiness
Sentence fragments and
run-on sentences
Passive voice
Adjective and adverb use
Double negatives
Pronoun case
Idioms
Unity and cohesiveness
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The Basic Five-Step Plan
Use the following five steps to solve multiple-choice Writing test items:
1. Read the sentence or paragraph all the way through to get a general sense
of its meaning.
2. Anticipate the answer. Determine how to best revise the sentence or passage.
3. Read the five answer choices. Always check each choice in context.
4. If you have to guess, use these methods:
• First eliminate all choices that don’t make sense.
• Keep it simple. Go for the answer that creates the most direct, least convoluted sentence.
• Make the effort to understand why you made the choice you did.
• If you can eliminate even one choice, it is to your advantage to guess.
5. Check your answer by reading the entire sentence or passage with the revision you have selected in place.
Identifying Sentence Errors
Using what you learned, choose the correct answers for these sample questions.
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences require you to identify errors in grammar,
usage, style, and mechanics. Not every sentence has an error, and no sentence
will have more than one error. In each sentence, the error, if there is one, is
underlined and lettered. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that
must be changed to make the sentence correct. If there is no error, select answer E.
Elements of the sentence that are not underlined are not to be changed.
1. Grasshoppers are the most commonly consumed insect, wasps have the
A
B
C
highest protein content—81 percent—of all edible insects. No error.
D
E
2. Her influence over the next 40 years was tremendous, as she writes essays,
A
B
C
lectured, and espoused the cause of fine children’s books all over New York
D
and New England. No error.
E
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
Answers
1. C. This is a run-on sentence—two sentences incorrectly joined. The sentence can be corrected by adding a coordinating conjunction as follows:
“Grasshoppers are the most commonly consumed insect, but wasps have
the highest protein content—81 percent—of all edible insects.”
2. C. This sentence has an error in verb tense. Every sentence must have a
consistent use of verb tenses. Since the sentence begins in the past tense
(was), the sentence must stay in the past tense (wrote). The correct sentence reads: “Her influence over the next 40 years was tremendous, as
she wrote essays, lectured, and espoused the cause of fine children’s
books all over New York and New England.”
Improving Sentences
DIRECTIONS: In each of the following sentences, part or all of the sentence is
underlined. Each sentence is followed by five ways of phrasing the underlined
part. Choose the best version of the underlined portion of each sentence.
Choice A is always the same as the underlined portion of the original sentence.
Choose answer A if you think the original sentence needs no revision.
3. Cultivating insects is far easier and requires much less space than to raise
conventional Western protein sources such as cattle, pork, and chicken.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
to raise
having raised
will be raising
raise
raising
4. Sam found a letter in the mailbox that does not belong to her.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
in the mailbox that does not belong to her
in the mailbox to her that does not belong
in the mailbox which does not belong to her
that does not belong to her in the mailbox
in the mailbox who does not belong to her
Answers
3. E. The sentence can be improved by creating parallel structure: matching
sentence parts. Here, the word raising parallels the word cultivating
because both words end in -ing. The correct sentence reads: “Cultivating
insects is far easier and requires much less space than raising conventional Western protein sources such as cattle, pork, and chicken.”
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4. D. The original sentence has a misplaced modifier: a word, phrase, or
clause placed too far from the noun or pronoun it describes. This misplaced modifier creates a sentence that says the mailbox—not the letter—does not belong to Sam. Only choice D corrects the error. The
correct sentence reads: “Sam found a letter that does not belong to her
in the mailbox.”
Improving Paragraphs
DIRECTIONS: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of
the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers
to the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or
parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and word choice.
Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and ask you to
consider organization and development. In making your decisions, follow the
conventions of standard written English.
1
5
(1) The leap into a “true” language is made when the pidgin speakers have children
these children learn the pidgin as their native language. (2) Amazingly, though, the
language they speak has much greater grammatical complexity. (3) Such children use a
consistent word order, prefixes or suffixes, tenses to indicate past or future events,
complex sentence structures, and similar grammatical devices the pidgin lacked.
5. In context, which version of the underlined section of sentence 1 (reproduced here) is the best?
(1) The leap into a “true” language is made when the pidgin speakers have children these
children learn the pidgin as their native language.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
As it is now.
have children, these children learn
have children that learn
have children, who learn
learn
6. Which of the following sentences, if added immediately after sentence 3,
would provide the best concluding sentence for the paragraph?
(A) Since 1979, in Nicaragua, children at schools for the deaf have essentially formed a pidgin.
(B) This newly formed, “true” language is called a creole.
(C) Like any spoken pidgin, LSN is a collection of jargon that has no consistent grammar; as a result, all speakers tend to use it differently.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
(D) Many grammatical devices, such as tenses and complex sentence structures, don’t exist in LSN.
(E) Children can create grammar—and the grammar created by different
children is very similar.
Answers
5. D. As written, this is a run-on sentence, two sentences run together without the correct punctuation or conjunction. Choice B is a comma
splice, a run-on sentence separated by a comma. Choice C is weak
because we use that to refer to things, not people. Choice E changes
the meaning of the sentence: in this revision, the pidgin speakers
rather than the children learn the pidgin as their native language.
Combining the two sentences through subordination of the second
clause is the best choice because it is the most logical and concise
revision. The corrected sentence reads: “The leap into a ‘true’ language
is made when the pidgin speakers have children, who learn the pidgin
as their native language.”
6. B. Choice B is the best conclusion because it links to the topic sentence:
“The leap into a ‘true’ language is made when the pidgin speakers have
children, who learn the pidgin as their native language.” The words true
language in the conclusion pick up the same words in the topic sentence.
Repetition is an effective method of creating unity.
How Do I Get a High Score on Identifying Sentence Error
Questions and Improving Sentence Error Questions?
Let’s start with reviewing sentences.
Define a Sentence
■ Sentence: Leave!
■
Sentence: You leave!
■
Sentence: You leave early for the airport to make sure you have enough
time to check in.
Each of these three word groups is a sentence because each meets the three
requirements for a sentence. To be a sentence, a group of words must
1. Have a subject (noun or pronoun)
2. Have a predicate (verb or verb phrase)
3. Express a complete thought
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Recognize Sentence Parts
Every sentence must have two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject
includes the noun or pronoun that tells what the subject is about. The predicate includes the verb that describes what the subject is doing. Here are some
examples of complete sentences:
SENTENCE PARTS
[You]
Leave!
Understood subject
Predicate
You
leave!
Subject
Predicate
You
leave early for the airport to make sure you have
enough time to check in.
Subject
Predicate
■
To find the subject, ask yourself, What word is the sentence describing?
■
To find an action verb, ask yourself, What did the subject do?
■
If you can’t find an action verb, look for a linking verb. The linking verbs
include to be (am, are, is, was, were, am being, etc.), appear, become, feel,
grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn.
In most sentences, the subject comes before the verb. This is not the case with
questions. In a question, the subject often comes after the verb. Here are some
examples:
Example: Is the ice cream on the counter?
The subject of the sentence is ice cream. The verb is is (a form of to be). The
subject comes after the verb.
Example: Are you staying home tonight?
The subject of the sentence is you. The verb is are (a form of to be). The subject
comes after the verb.
To find the subject in a question, rewrite the question as a statement. The
question “Is the ice cream on the counter?” becomes “The ice cream is on the
counter.” Now the subject, ice cream, is in the usual position before the verb.
Identify Sentence Types
There are two types of clauses: independent and dependent.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
■
Independent clauses are complete sentences because they have a subject
and a verb, and they express a complete thought.
■
Dependent clauses are not complete sentences because they do not
express a complete thought—even though they have a subject and a
verb.
Independent and dependent clauses can be used in a number of ways to form
the four basic types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, compoundcomplex.
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence has one independent clause. That means it has one subject
and one verb—although either or both can be compound. In addition, a simple sentence can have adjectives and adverbs. A simple sentence cannot have
another independent clause or any subordinate clauses.
Example: My sister
shops every day.
↑
↑
One subject
One verb
Example: My sister and my mother
↑
buy
↑
many amazing things.
↑
Compound subject
One verb
Example: My daughter
plays softball and rides her bicycle.
↑
↑
One subject
↑
Compound verb
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses. The independent clauses can be joined in one of two ways:
■
With a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
■
With a semicolon (;)
As with a simple sentence, a compound sentence can’t have any subordinate
clauses.
Example: Mike grills steak,
and
Nancy sets the table.
↑
↑
↑
Independent clause
Conjunction
Independent clause
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Example: Nancy cooks every day
;
↑
Mike cooks only on weekends.
↑
Independent clause
↑
Semicolon
Independent clause
You may also add a conjunctive adverb to this construction;
Nancy cooks every day; however, Mike cooks only on weekends.
Complex Sentences
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent
clause. The independent clause is called the main clause. These sentences use
subordinating conjunctions to link ideas.
Example: When
you take the new SAT,
you will have to write an essay.
↑
↑
↑
Subordinate
conjunction
Dependent clause
Independent clause
Example: Analogies were dropped
because
space had to be made for the
essay.
↑
↑
↑
Independent clause
conjunction
Subordinate
Dependent clause
The most common subordinating conjunctions are listed in the following box.
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
after
although
as
because
before
even if
even though
if
rather than
since
so
so that
though
unless
until
when
whether
while
Compound-Complex Sentences
A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least
one dependent clause. The dependent clause can be part of the independent
clause.
Example: When students apply
to colleges,
they take the SAT I
and they study to get the
highest possible score.
↑
↑
↑
Dependent clause
Independent clause
Independent clause
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
Example: Josh got a new car
for graduation,
but he drove badly
so he took driver’s
education classes over
the summer.
↑
↑
↑
Independent clause
Independent clause
Dependent clause
Identify and Correct Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
A run-on sentence is two incorrectly joined independent clauses.
Example: The Great Seal of the United States was first used by George
Washington he glued it onto a document.
A comma splice is a run-on sentence with a comma where the two independent
clauses run together.
Example: Bob Hope was born in England, his parents came to America when
Hope was four years old.
Don’t be fooled—run-on sentences are not necessarily long. Some run-on
sentences can be very short.
Example: People can be cold they can be cruel.
Example: Roses are red violets are blue.
You can correct a run-on sentence in several different ways.
■
Separate the run-on sentence into two sentences with end punctuation
such as periods, exclamation marks, and question marks.
Example: Bob Hope was born in England. His parents came to America
when Hope was four years old.
■
Add a coordinating conjunction (and, nor, but, or, for, yet, so) to create a
compound sentence. Be sure to use a comma before the coordinating
conjunction in a compound sentence, unless the two independent clauses
are very short.
Example: Bob Hope was born in England, and his parents came to
America when Hope was four years old.
■
Add a subordinating conjunction to create a complex sentence.
Example: Bob Hope was born in England, although his parents came to
America when Hope was four years old.
■
Use a semicolon to create a compound sentence. You may choose to add a
conjunctive adverb, such as however, nevertheless, nonetheless, moreover.
Example: Bob Hope was born in England; however, his parents came to
America when Hope was four years old.
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■
Rewrite the sentence.
Example: Born in England, Bob Hope was four years old when his parents
moved to America.
Which revision is best? Choose the way that best suits your purpose, audience,
and tone.
Identify and Correct Fragments
As its name suggests, a sentence fragment is a group of words that does not
express a complete thought. Most times, a fragment is missing a subject, a verb,
or both. Other times, a fragment may have a subject and a verb but still not
express a complete thought. Fragments can be phrases as well as clauses.
■
Fragment missing a subject
Example: Unanimously voted today to develop a new SAT I.
■
Fragment missing a verb
Example: The Trustees of the College Board to develop a new SAT I.
■
Fragment missing a subject and a verb
Example: While listening to the radio.
■
Fragment with a subject and a verb that does not express a complete thought
Example: Because William Cody killed nearly 5000 buffalo.
You can correct a fragment by adding the missing part to the sentence or by
omitting the subordinating conjunction. In some instances, you can also correct
a fragment by adding it to another sentence.
Fragment
Sentence
Unanimously voted today to
develop a new SAT I.
The Trustees of the College Board
unanimously voted today to develop a
new SAT I.
The Trustees of the College Board
to develop a new SAT I.
The Trustees of the College Board voted
to develop a new SAT I.
While listening to the radio.
While listening to the radio, Martha
practiced the latest dance steps.
Because William Cody killed
nearly 5000 buffalo.
Because William Cody killed nearly
5000 buffalo, he became famous as
“Buffalo Bill.”
William Cody killed nearly 5000 buffalo.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
Eliminate Unnecessary Words
Some of the questions on the SAT Writing test will ask you to revise sentences
to make them simple and direct. For each question, look to cut unnecessary
details or ideas that have already been stated. Keep the important detail, but cut
any words and ideas that have already been stated in other ways.
Try this sample SAT-style question:
1. At this point in time, the diner was the heart of the neighborhood.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
At this point in time
Now
At the present time
Today it is believed by many that
As a matter of fact, right now
Answer
1. B. This is the most direct, concise choice.
Use Adjectives and Adverbs Correctly
■ Use an adjective to describe a noun or a pronoun.
■
Use an adjective after a linking verb. A linking verb connects a subject
with a descriptive word. Here are the most common linking verbs: be (is,
am, are, was, were, and so on), seem, appear, look, feel, smell, sound, taste,
become, grow, remain, stay, and turn.
Example: Tofu cooked this way tastes more delicious (not deliciously).
■
Use an adverb to describe a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Use an adverb to
Example
Describe a verb
Experiments using dynamite must be done carefully.
Describe an adjective
Rick had an unbelievably large appetite for pizza.
Describe an adverb
They sang so sweetly.
Follow these rules to make correct comparisons with adjectives and
adverbs.
■
Use the comparative degree (-er or more form) to compare two things.
Example: Your test seems longer than mine. I don’t think it is more difficult,
however.
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■
Use the superlative form (-est or most form) to compare more than two
things.
Example: This is the longest test I have ever taken. It is also the most difficult
test I have ever taken.
■
Never use -er and more or -est and most together.
Incorrect: This is the more longer of the two tests.
Correct: This is the longer of the two tests.
Review the following box.
Part of Speech
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Adjective
wide
wider
widest
Adverb
widely
more widely
most widely
Adjective
faithful
more faithful
most faithful
Adverb
faithfully
more faithfully
most faithfully
Good and bad do not follow these guidelines. They have irregular forms.
Part of Speech
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Adjective
good
better
best
Adverb
well
better
best
Adjective
bad
worse
worst
Adverb
badly
worse
worst
Try these sample SAT-style questions:
2. Today’s mild weather was more comfortable than yesterday’s brisk weather,
so the teacher decided to hold class outdoors.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
more comfortable
most comfortable
comfortable
comfortabler
most comfortablest
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
3. The dietician thinks that salmon is the better of all fish because it is healthful and tasty, as well as being easily available.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
better
good
goodest
best
most good
Answers
2. A. This is correct as written, because two things are being compared.
3. D. Use the superlative degree, best, because more than two things are being
compared.
Use the Correct Pronoun Case
Case is the form of a noun or pronoun that shows how it is used in a sentence.
English has three cases: nominative, objective, and possessive. The following box
shows the three cases.
Nominative
(Pronoun as subject)
Objective
(Pronoun as objective)
Possessive
(Ownership)
I
me
my, mine
you
you
your, yours
he
him
his
she
her
her, hers
it
it
its
we
us
our, ours
they
them
their, theirs
who
whom
whose
whoever
whomever
whoever
■
Use the nominative case to show the subject of a verb.
Example: We spoke to the teacher about the test.
■
Use the objective case to show the noun or pronoun receives the action.
Example: The teacher was willing to speak to us.
■
Use the possessive case to show ownership.
Example: The book is mine, not yours or his.
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Try these sample SAT-style questions.
4. The principal knows of no other teacher who is as intelligent as her, and so
has recommended her for a raise.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
her
she
hers
them
they
5. Louise and me have decided to take the SAT this spring, because we have
studied all winter.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Louise and me
Me and Louise
Louise and I
Louise and her
Her and me
Answers
4. B. She is the subject of the understood verb is. Therefore, the pronoun is
in the nominative case. Read the sentence to yourself this way: “The
principal knows of no other teacher who is as intelligent as she [is], and
so has recommended her for a raise.” Choices D and E are wrong
because they are plural and the subject (teacher) is singular.
5. C. Use the nominative case, since “Louise and I” is the subject of the sentence. They are doing the action. Read the sentence to yourself this way:
“[We] have decided to take the SAT this spring, because we have studied
all winter.” Then read it this way: “Louise and I have decided to take the
SAT this spring, because we have studied all winter.”
Use Active and Passive Voice Correctly
■ In the active voice, the subject performs the action named by the verb.
Example: Ben Franklin first wanted a turkey instead of an eagle as our
national symbol.
■
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action.
Example: A turkey instead of an eagle was first wanted by Benjamin
Franklin as our national symbol.
The active voice is usually preferred to the passive voice because it is less wordy.
Try this sample SAT-style question.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
6. As he was walking near the boarded-up shopping complex in the center of
town, a gold bracelet was found by Herman.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
a gold bracelet was found by Herman.
Herman found a gold bracelet.
a bracelet made of gold was found by Herman.
a gold bracelet Herman found.
a gold bracelet by Herman was found.
Answer
6. B. The passive construction has been revised to be active. This makes the
sentence less wordy.
Revise Sentences to Create Parallel Structure
Parallel structure means putting ideas of the same rank in the same grammatical
structure. Words, phrases, and clauses should be parallel. Match each subsequent
element to the first part of the sentence.
■
Parallel words
Example: A healthful diet contains fruits, vegetables, and protein.
■
Parallel phrases
Example: The state government can afford to make classes smaller, to
repair potholes faster, and to pick up trash earlier, too.
Try these sample SAT-style questions:
7. First it rained, then hail was falling, and finally snow came down.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
then hail was falling, and finally snow came down.
then hail fell, and we got a lot of snow, too.
then hail came down, and finally it was snowing.
then it was hailing, and finally it was snowing.
then it hailed, and finally it snowed.
8. We moved our sleeping bags closer to the fire, hung blankets over the
windows, and more logs were added to the blaze.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
more logs were added to the blaze.
added more logs to the blaze.
adding more logs to the blaze.
adding to the blaze more logs.
will add more logs to the blaze.
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Answers
7. E. Each clause should be parallel to “it rained.” Start with the clause “it
rained.” Only “it hailed” and “it snowed” have the same form. The correct sentence reads: “First it rained, then it hailed, and finally it snowed.”
8. B. The past tense verb added parallels moved and hung. The corrected sentence reads: “We moved our sleeping bags closer to the fire, hung blankets over the windows, and added more logs to the blaze.”
Correct Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that describes something that has been
left out of the sentence.
Dangling: Making startling new discoveries in science, the Renaissance was a
time of rebirth.
Correct:
The Renaissance was a time of rebirth when people made startling
new discoveries in science.
A misplaced modifier is a describing word that is placed too far away from
the noun or the pronoun that it is describing. As a result, the sentence does not
convey its meaning. It may also produce confusion or amusement. To correct
the error, move the modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it is
describing.
Example: The writer read from his new book wearing glasses.
The modifier wearing glasses is in the wrong place. The sentence states that the
book, not the writer, was wearing glasses. Move the modifier so that the sentence
reads: “The writer wearing glasses read from his new book.”
Try these sample SAT-style questions.
9. Confirming our conversation, the shipment will be ordered on Monday.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
the shipment will be ordered on Monday
ordering of the shipment will take place
I have arranged for the shipment to be ordered
the shipment ordered
the shipment has been ordered
10. Please take the time to look over the pamphlet that is enclosed with your
family.
(A) the pamphlet that is enclosed with your family.
(B) the family pamphlet that is enclosed.
(C) the family that is enclosed with your pamphlet.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
(D) the enclosed pamphlet with your family.
(E) the pamphlet that with your family is enclosed.
Answers
9. C. Here, the main clause has been rewritten so the subject is modified by
the phrase that was dangling. The corrected sentence reads: “Confirming
our conversation, I have arranged for the shipment to be ordered on
Monday.”
10. D. As written, the sentence states that the pamphlet is enclosed with the
family. The writer means to say that the person should look over the
pamphlet with his or her family. Only choice D states the writer’s
meaning accurately. The corrected sentence reads: “Please take the time
to look over the enclosed pamphlet with your family.”
How Do I Get a High Score on Improving Paragraph Questions?
Understand the Passage
Always start by making sure you understand the passage. Read it through several
times to get the overall meaning. This will help you grasp how ideas are linked.
Look for Relationships among Ideas
Some questions on this part of the test depend on how the sentences fit
together. This is especially true when you are asked to clarify unclear pronoun
references, correct shifts in tense, and revise run-on sentences and fragments.
Therefore, you have to read the sentence(s) under discussion as well as the sentence before and after to answer many of these questions correctly. Study the
following model.
1
5
(2) A surprisingly large percentage of the population is burdened by negative feelings
they carry through relationships over time. (3) Guilt, bitterness, and cruelty can be
emotionally destructive to you and your family (4) You must get rid of them if you
wish to lead a happy and productive life. (5) Ridding yourself of these bad feelings can
often help you move on with your life.
1. In context, which is the best version of the underlined portions of sentences
3 and 4 (reproduced here)?
(A) As it is now.
(B) Guilt, bitterness, and cruelty can be emotionally destructive to you and
your family, you must get rid of them
(C) Guilt, bitterness, and cruelty can be emotionally destructive to you and
your family, so you must get rid of them
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(D) Because guilt, bitterness, and cruelty can be emotionally destructive to
you and your family, you must get rid of them
(E) Guilt, bitterness, and cruelty can be emotionally destructive to you and
your family, so you must get rid of these harmful feelings
Answer
1. E. There are two problems here: a run-on sentence and an unclear pronoun
reference. Does the pronoun them refer to the emotions or the family?
Choice A is a run-on sentence, two sentences run together without correct punctuation or conjunctions. Choice B incorrectly joins two complete sentences with a comma, creating a comma splice. Choices C and D
correctly join the two sentences but do not correct the unclear pronoun
reference. Only choice E correctly joins the two sentences and corrects
the unclear pronoun reference.
Predict Appropriate Additions and Conclusions
Another type of question asks you to decide which sentence would follow the
previous one or what conclusion would best suit the draft. Thus, you have to
consider how the entire passage is developed. Follow these steps:
■
Identify the writer’s main idea. It may be stated in the topic sentence or
you will have to infer it from details in the passage.
■
Identify the writer’s slant. For example, in a persuasive essay, what is the
writer’s opinion?
■
See which choice best fits with the main idea and the writer’s opinion as
developed in the draft.
Try these sample SAT-style questions:
1
5
(1) Insect cuisine may not be standard food in the U.S. (2) However, as Miguel Vilar
notes in Science World, 80 percent of the world’s population savors bugs, either as
staples of their everyday diet or as rare delicacies. (3) Entomophany (consuming
insects intentionally) has yet to catch on in America and Europe in spite of the
superior nutritional content of edible insects compared to other food sources.
(4) It’s time that changed.
2. Including a paragraph on which of the following would most strengthen the
writer’s argument?
(A) The reasons why people should eat insects.
(B) The great disadvantages of eating insects.
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
(C) The different types of insects that people around the world consume.
(D) How to prepare insects so they are palatable or at least edible.
(E) Other odd foods that people around the world consume and reasons
why they favor these foods.
1
5
(1) The Earth’s atmosphere initially consisted of hydrogen and helium gas. (2) These
gasses, being too light for Earth’s gravity to hold and subject to high-energy radiation,
were “boiled off ” into space, and gradually replaced by gasses expelled in volcanic
eruptions. (3) Additionally, some water entered the system from icy comets that hit the
Earth. (4) Eventually, a new atmosphere was formed, in which carbon dioxide was in
much greater concentrations than it is today, and oxygen was probably less than 1% of
the atmosphere (Carslaw 2-5).
3. Which sentence would be most appropriate to follow sentence 2?
(A) On a similar note, one source of better information about this time
period could be biologically mediated isotope distributions in the geological record.
(B) These bacteria then trapped much of the carbon and released oxygen
into the atmosphere.
(C) This process is known as “outgassing,” and among these gasses were
carbon dioxide, chlorine, methane, nitrogen, water vapor, ammonia,
and various sulfur compounds.
(D) The oldest fossils of such bacteria are from 3.8 billion years ago, which
implies that this buildup of oxygen was a gradual process at first.
(E) High-energy radiation interacted with oxygen molecules in the upper
atmosphere and formed ozone.
Answers
2. A. The writer’s main idea is stated in the first two sentences: Insect
cuisine may not be standard food in the U.S., but Miguel Vilar notes
in Science World that 80 percent of the world’s population savors bugs,
either as staples of their everyday diet or as rare delicacies. The writer’s
slant is stated in the last sentence: It’s time that changed. Clearly, the
writer is in favor of people consuming insects. Thus, a paragraph on
the advantages of consuming insects would best strengthen the writer’s
argument.
3. C. Sentence 2 discusses how gasses were “boiled off ” into space and gradually replaced by gasses expelled in volcanic eruptions. This is a process.
Thus, naming and describing the process in the following sentence
makes the most sense.
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Practice Multiple-Choice Writing Items
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences require you to identify errors in
grammar, usage, style, and mechanics. Not every sentence has an error and no
sentence will have more than one error. Each sentence error, if there is one, is
underlined and lettered. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that
must be changed to make the sentence correct. Elements of the sentence that
are not underlined are not to be changed.
1. Facing down hostility and prejudice with unshakable dignity and
A
B
playing that was superb, Robinson was named Rookie of the Year. No error.
C
D
E
2. The small items sold well, but Strauss found himself stuck with the rolls of
A
B
canvas it was not heavy enough to be used for tents. No error.
C
D
E
3. The glittering necklaces of Lisa Chin has earned high praise not only from
A
B C
the critics but also from jewelry collectors the world over. No error.
D
E
4. Although you use a computer spreadsheet to keep track of your
A
B
investments, debts, and budget, one must not overspend and rely on credit to
C
D
make up the shortfall. No error.
E
5. The vacationers saw the Ruyterkade schooner market in Curacao; in addition,
A
B
they danced at the carnival in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and
C
nearly spoke to two dozen real West Indian sailors. No error.
D
E
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
DIRECTIONS: In each of the following sentences, part or all of the sentence is
underlined. Each sentence is followed by five ways of phrasing the underlined
part. Choose the best version of the underlined portion of each sentence.
Choice A is always the same as the underlined portion of the original sentence.
Choose answer A if you think the original sentence needs no revision.
6. Nourishing, low-calorie foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats,
and seafood is rarely served in homes where people do not have enough
money.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
is rarely served
are rarely served
is rare served
is never served
was rarely served
7. Dr. Seuss, one of the world’s most famous children’s book authors, he has
written books for adults and advertising copy as well.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
authors, he has written
authors, written by him has been
authors him has written
authors written
authors, has written
8. The story opens in the Dutch West Indies most of the action takes place on
a tiny, isolated cay (an island composed mainly of coral and sand) in the
Caribbean.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Indies most of the action
Indies, most of the action
Indies, the action mostly
Indies, when most of the action
Indies, but most of the action
9. The great explorer’s astonishing discovery brought him fame around the
world and assured him a lucrative book contract.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
explorer’s astonishing discovery brought him fame
explorer’s astonishing discovery brought them fame
explorer’s astonishing discovery brought his company fame
explorer’s astonishing discovery brought fame
fame that was brought to the explorer because of his astonishing
discovery
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10. After the major argument at the wedding, reconciliation was the most furthest thing from their minds.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
most furthest thing
furthest thing
more furthest thing
most further thing
further thing
DIRECTIONS: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts
of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best
answers to the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular
sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure
and word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire
essay and ask you to consider organization and development. In making
your decisions, follow the conventions of standard written English. Choose
the best answer. Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following draft of an
essay.
1
5
10
(1) The ancient Greeks and Romans dabbled with the idea of building diving bells
(2) It wasn’t until 1578 that a practical submarine was planned. (3) Cornelius van
Drebbel, a Dutch inventor, used many of Bourne’s ideas when he created his presubmarine, “The Turtle,” early in the next century. (4) They were made of wood
and shaped like a barrel. (5) They were one-person submergibles used during the
American revolution against British warships.
(6) To refuel the U-boats at sea, the Germans created 1,000-to-1,600 ton U-cruisers.
(7) It took almost another century for the first true submarines to make their appearance, the German “Unterseeboots.” (8) Nicknamed “U-boats,” these powerful submarines weighed 500-to-700 tons.
11. In context, which is the best way to revise and combine the underlined
portion of sentences 1 and 2 (reproduced here)?
(1) The ancient Greeks and Romans dabbled with the idea of building diving bells (2) It wasn’t
until 1578 that a practical submarine was planned.
(A) As it is now.
(B) Even though the ancient Greeks and Romans dabbled with the idea of
building diving bells, it wasn’t
(C) The ancient Greeks and Romans dabbled with the idea of building
diving bells it wasn’t
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
(D) The ancient Greeks and Romans dabbled with the idea of building
diving bells, it wasn’t
(E) The ancient Greeks and Romans dabbled with the idea of building
diving bells, for it wasn’t
12. Which sentence would be most appropriate to follow sentence 2?
(A) The inventor was the British mathematician William Bourne.
(B) During World War II, the Germans began using submarines against
British and American forces.
(C) U-boats were among the most feared weapons of World War II.
(D) Many people refuse to travel in submarines because they fear being in
enclosed spaces.
(E) Submarines are rarely used for transporting passengers; rather, their
use is largely restricted to military maneuvers.
13. In context, which is the best way to revise and combine the underlined
portion of sentences 4 and 5 (reproduced here)?
They were made of wood and shaped like a barrel. They were one-person submersibles used
during the American Revolution against British warships.
(A) They were made of wood and shaped like a barrel. They were one-person submersibles used
(B) They were made of wood and shaped like a barrel they were
one-person submersibles used
(C) Having been made of wood and shaped like a barrel, they were
submersibles used by one person
(D) Made of wood and shaped like a barrel, this one-person submersible
was used
(E) Because they are made of wood and shaped like a barrel, they are
one-person submersibles used
14. What is the best order of sentences in the last paragraph to create logic and
unity?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
As it is now.
7, 8, 6
7, 6, 8
6, 8, 7
6, 7, 8
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15. Concluding with a paragraph on which of the following would most
strengthen the writer’s unity and logic?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
The effectiveness of the U-boats
How submarines have caused great destruction
Why people should consider traveling in submarines
Other forms of transportation, especially cars, trains, and buses
The history of the world’s major conflicts, especially World Wars I and II
Answers
1. C. Remember that all elements in a sentence have to be in the same grammatical form. This is called parallel structure. “Superb playing”—not
“playing that was superb”—parallels “unshakable dignity,” since both
phrases are composed of a noun modified by an adjective. The correct
sentence reads: “Facing down hostility and prejudice with unshakable
dignity and superb playing, Robinson was named Rookie of the Year.”
2. C. This is a run-on sentence, the error occurring between the two independent clauses. Correct the sentence as follows: “The small items sold
well, but Strauss found himself stuck with the rolls of canvas because it
was not heavy enough to be used for tents.”
3. B. This question tests your knowledge of subject-verb agreement. The
subject—necklaces—is plural. Thus, it requires a plural verb—have
earned. All the other choices are correct. The correct sentence reads:
“The glittering necklaces of Lisa Chin have earned high praise not
only from the critics but also from jewelry collectors the world over.”
4. D. This question tests consistency of pronoun use: Use the same pronoun
throughout. Since the sentence begins with the word you, the writer
cannot switch to one in the middle of the sentence. The corrected sentence reads: “Although you use a computer spreadsheet to keep track of
your investments, debts, and budget, you must not overspend and rely
on credit to make up the shortfall.”
5. D. This is a misplaced modifier. The phrase “nearly spoke” means that the
tourists almost spoke to the sailors. Since this sentence refers to the
events the vacationers did indeed complete, the phrase should read
“spoke to nearly.” The complete sentence should read: “The vacationers
saw the Ruyterkade schooner market in Curacao; in addition, they
danced at the carnival in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and spoke to
nearly two dozen real West Indian sailors.”
6. B. This question tests your understanding of subject-verb agreement. The
plural subject foods takes a plural verb. Here, use are, the plural form of
the verb to be: “Nourishing, low-calorie foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood are rarely served in homes where people do
PART 5: Strategies for Success on the Multiple-Choice Writing Questions
7. E.
8. E.
9. C.
10. B.
11. B.
12. A.
not have enough money.” Ignore the intervening prepositional phrase:
“such as fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood.”
As written, the sentence is incorrect because there is no reason to
include the pronoun he. Always start by looking for the easiest and least
convoluted way of revising the sentence. The easiest way is deleting the
pronoun he. The other choices create wordy, awkward, and incorrect
sentences. The correct sentence reads: “Dr. Seuss, one of the world’s
most famous children’s book authors, has written books for adults and
advertising copy as well.”
As written, this is a run-on sentence, two incorrectly joined sentences.
Merely adding a comma (choice B) creates a comma splice. Choice C
simply rephrases the sentence but does not correct the run-on sentence.
Choice D is illogical, because the subordinating conjunction when does
not make sense in context. The correct sentence reads: “The story opens
in the Dutch West Indies, but most of the action takes place on a tiny,
isolated cay (an island composed mainly of coral and sand) in the
Caribbean.”
Do not use a pronoun to refer to a noun’s possessive form (the form
that shows ownership). In addition, you cannot use a noun’s possessive
form as the antecedent to a pronoun, unless the pronoun is also in the
possessive case. Thus, since the pronoun him is not possessive, it cannot
be used to refer to the possessive noun explorer’s. Choice C puts both
the noun and the pronoun in the possessive case (explorer’s, his)
Never add both -er and more (or less) or both -est and most (or least) to
a modifier. Thus, the corrected sentence should read: “After the major
argument at the wedding, reconciliation was the furthest thing from
their minds.”
You can link related ideas in many ways. When you subordinate ideas,
for instance, you make one idea more important than the other. The
more important idea is placed in the main clause. Use a subordinating
conjunction to link the two sentences and create unity. The subordinating conjunction “even though” shows a cause-and-effect relationship,
appropriate to the ideas expressed here. Choice C is a run-on sentence;
choice D is a comma splice. The coordinating conjunction for in choice
E does not make sense in context (although the conjunction but
would). The correct sentence reads: “Even though the ancient Greeks
and Romans dabbled with the idea of building diving bells, it wasn’t
until 1578 that a practical submarine was planned.”
The sentence “The inventor was the British mathematician William
Bourne” directly links with the previous sentence on the planning of a
practical submarine and the following sentence on subsequent submarines. The phrase “Bourne’s ideas” in sentence 3 is a clue that the
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previous sentence should refer to Bourne. None of the other sentences
fits in context.
13. D. Choice D best makes the relationship between ideas clear. Choice B creates a run-on sentence, while choice C is awkward. Choice E changes
the meaning of the sentence. It also changes the tense, which violates
the consistency of the draft. The correct sentence reads: “Made of wood
and shaped like a barrel, this one-person submersible was used during
the American Revolution against British warships.”
14. B. The passage should read: “It took almost another century for the
first true submarines to make their appearance, the German
‘Unterseeboots.’ Nicknamed ‘U-boats,’ these powerful submarines
weighed 500-to-700 tons. To refuel the U-boats at sea, the Germans
created 1,000-to-1,600 ton U-cruisers.”
15. A. Since the entire passage describes submarines from past to present,
concluding with a passage on the effectiveness of the U-boats not only
follows from the previous paragraph but also shows the progression of
submarines from their invention to World War II. Here is a sample
paragraph:
1
5
In addition to their size and strength, the U-boats were powerful weapons because they
could travel at great speeds underwater. Snorkels, long tubes projecting above the surface of the water, provided U-boats with air while they were submerged. The U-boats
launched magnetic torpedoes that zeroed in on the target’s hull and acoustical torpedoes that used the noise of the target’s propellers to locate the target.
P A R T
Strategies for Success
on the Essay Question
6
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PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
Strategies for Success
on the Essay Question
The essay question appears on the new Writing test section of the SAT. You
have 25 minutes in which to write the essay.
What Will I Be Required to Write?
Since there are no past exams to analyze, we can predict the types of essays
only from the sample questions published by the College Board. Thus far, the
essays fall into two main types: persuasive and expository.
Persuasive Prompts
Persuasive essays argue a point. You must agree or disagree with the writing
prompt and give specific reasons to support your opinion. Techniques for writing a successful SAT persuasive essay are discussed at length later in this chapter. Below are two simulated persuasive writing prompts:
Example 1
Philosopher Lewis Mumford argues that the space program is a “futile waste of technology, strictly a
military by-product.”
Assignment: Does the space program have a practical value? If so, what? If not,
what limits should we place on it? Construct an argument explaining your
position. Support your views with relevant reasons and examples from your
experiences, observations, and reading. To strengthen your position, you might
wish to consider alternative or opposing views.
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Example 2
The United States should remain an island of plenty in a sea of hunger. The future of humanity is at
stake. We are not responsible for the rest of the world.
Assignment: Agree or disagree with this statement. Construct an argument
explaining your position. Support your views with relevant reasons and examples from your experiences, observations, and reading. To strengthen your
position, you might wish to consider alternative or opposing views.
Expository Prompts
Expository essays explain, show, or tell about a topic. You must analyze a quote
or prompt and then give specific information about it. Techniques for writing a
successful SAT expository essay are discussed at length later in this chapter.
Below are two simulated expository writing prompts:
Example 1
Unquestionably, travel broadens our horizons and teaches us many important things about ourselves
and others. However, we can also learn equally valuable lessons by staying home. Explain what you
think is one of the most significant lessons we can learn from our own backyard.
Assignment: Complete this statement with an example from your own life, history, literature, or current events. In your essay, explain what you have learned
from your own environment. The environment might be your home, school, or
town, for example.
Example 2
Life is filled with joy, but also with tragedy. We change as a result of the good and bad things that
happen to us. Explain your opinion about what we can learn from our misfortune.
Assignment: Complete this statement with an example from history, literature,
current events, or your own experience. In your essay, explain what life lessons
can be learned from misfortune.
What Are the Qualities of a Successful Essay?
Regardless of the prompt, all essays must be clear, consistent, complete, and correct. To make these qualities easier to remember, think of them as the four Cs.
They are presented in the following box.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
Quality
Explanation
Clear
The essay has an obvious and logical method of organization.
The essay has at least three paragraphs:
Introduction: states the topic and your thesis (opinion)
Body: provides specific details, examples, and facts
Conclusion: summarizes your main point and provides
resolution
Your handwriting can be read easily. You will lose credit for
illegibility.
Consistent
The essay answers the question you were asked.
The essay stays on topic; it doesn’t include irrelevant
information.
The essay maintains the same tone throughout.
The essay maintains the same point of view throughout.
Complete
The essay is finished; you will lose credit if the essay is
incomplete.
The essay presents an intelligent, insightful way of looking at
the topic.
Correct
The writing follows the rules of standard written English.
There are few (if any) errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling,
usage, capitalization, and so on.
How Are the Essays Scored?
Your essay will be scored by English teachers from around the country who
gather in a central location. They spend about a week reading the essays. The
scorers use a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 as the lowest score and 6 as the highest score.
The scoring guidelines are arranged on a rubric. Here are the general guidelines:
■
Score of 1. The essay barely touches on the topic or discusses a topic that
has nothing to do with the essay question at all.
■
Score of 2. The essay demonstrates a lack of understanding; either it does
not address the topic directly or fails to answer the question. It draws
obscure, irrelevant, or bizarre conclusions and is seriously deficient in the
conventions of standard written English.
■
Score of 3. The essay demonstrates an attempt at organization, but the
structure is flawed and the supporting detail is weak. There may be serious problems with the mechanics of correct written English.
■
Score of 4. The essay demonstrates a thorough but not totally convincing
discussion of the topic, marked by the sense that the writer has not completely thought out the issue. In addition, there are some writing errors
that may distract the reader from the argument and the writer’s point.
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■
Score of 5. The essay demonstrates solid, logical, and persuasive discussion, but it lacks originality or insight. Further, the development lacks
grace and style. It may seem a bit predictable and plodding.
■
Score of 6. The essay demonstrates originality and imagination. It has a
clearly focused discussion made up of coherent arguments of exceptional
clarity. This essay leaves the reader convinced of the soundness of the discussion, impressed with the quality of the writing style, and stimulated by
the intelligence and insight of the writer.
Here is a sample rubric you can use to assess your own practice essays.
Score of 1
•
•
•
•
•
Very poor organization; ideas scattered and difficult to follow.
Significant errors in grammar and usage impede meaning.
Virtually no detail provided.
Illogical point of view, opinion, or interpretation of the prompt.
Essay completely off topic.
Score of 2
•
•
•
•
Ideas not divided into logical paragraphs.
Errors in grammar, diction, and sentence structure.
Insignificant detail provided.
Essay strays from topic.
Score of 3
•
•
•
•
•
Incomplete organization.
Paragraphs not developed logically.
Ideas not linked in a logical manner.
Inappropriate or insufficient details to support ideas.
Too many errors in grammar, diction, and sentence structure.
Score of 4
•
•
•
•
•
Answers the question asked in the writing prompt.
Ideas divided into paragraphs.
Opinions supported with details, examples, and facts.
Some errors in style and word use.
Some errors in grammar or diction; little sentence variety.
Score of 5
•
•
•
•
Directly addresses the writing prompt in a logical manner.
Paragraphs are well-organized.
Ideas developed with appropriate, interesting examples.
Uses language skillfully, including appropriate word choice and sentence variety.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
Score of 6
•
•
•
•
Demonstrates an original and insightful approach to the topic.
Essay is very well organized.
Ideas fully developed with appropriate, interesting examples.
Sophisticated use of language; variety of sentence structures and vocabulary.
Top-Ten Hints for High-Scoring Essays
1. Analyze the question. Before you do anything else, make sure that you
understand exactly what is required of you. Rephrase the writing prompt
and assignment section in your own words to make sure that you comprehend it and grasp any subtle points.
2. Answer the question. Follow the directions precisely and do exactly what
you’re asked to do. Be sure to address every single part of the question. No
matter how impressive your writing is, you will not receive any credit if
you don’t answer the question. If you grasp only one point from this book,
make it this point: Directly answer the question you are given and follow
the directions exactly.
3. Use your time wisely. Since you have 25 minutes for the essay, consider
spending your time this way:
2 minutes planning
20 minutes writing and revising
3 minutes editing and proofreading
If you use an erasable pen, you can revise and edit as you draft. I strongly
suggest that you correct your errors as you draft because you may not have
time to return to your essay later.
4. Start writing. It’s natural to start your essay at the beginning with the
introduction, but if you’re stuck for an opening, don’t waste time agonizing. Instead, start where you can, with the body paragraphs. While it’s
vital that your essay be well-organized and logical, it’s equally vital that
you get it written in the 25 minutes you have. The best essay in the world
won’t get you any points if you don’t get it down on paper within the
time limit.
5. Keep writing. If you get stuck, skip some lines and keep on going. If you
can’t keep on writing, take a few deep breaths and gather your wits. If you
really go blank and can’t write, move on to another part of the essay.
Staring at the paper only wastes time.
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Use a clock as you practice writing the essays in this book. This will
teach you how to pace yourself so you can make sure that you finish the
essay on the day of the test.
6. Write neatly. If your writing is illegible, the scorer won’t be able to read
your paper. If it’s merely messy, your scorer might misread a crucial point.
And much as we don’t like to admit it, neat papers do predispose scorers to
grade more kindly. If you suspect that your handwriting is hard to read,
print neatly and carefully.
7. Be focused, serious, and mature. Some students take the SAT for themselves and their future; others take it for their parents or to be part of the
crowd. Other unfortunate students are forced into it, kicking and screaming. If you didn’t want to take the test in the first place, this isn’t the time
to throw the test to prove a point. As an SAT scorer, I’ve read too many
essays that reveal the students’ determination to go down in flames to
prove they never should have been forced into the test. If you are in this
dreadful position, prove the other point: You can do it.
8. Proofread. This can be one of the most important steps in any paper, for
no matter how valid your points, how precise your examples, if you have
made a great many careless writing errors, you will lose credit. While your
essay will be evaluated holistically (on the total impression it makes),
errors can distract your readers and reduce the effectiveness of your arguments. Always make sure that you have time to proofread, and be as careful
as you can to read what is there, not what You think is there.
9. Deal with panic. You can psyche yourself up or down—it’s all in your head.
Convince yourself that you can succeed by working carefully and resolutely. If
you start to panic, pause for a second to calm yourself and then soldier on.
10. Keep perspective. Always remember that scorers reward you for what you
do well. They’re not looking for perfection. After all, you have only
25 minutes in which to write your essay. Do the very best you can, but
don’t obsess about making your essay flawless.
How to Write a High-Scoring Persuasive SAT Essay
Persuasive writing moves readers to action or belief. The essay portion of the
new SAT will require you to write a persuasive or an expository essay. To determine whether you are dealing with a persuasive SAT essay question, look for
these key words and phrases:
1. What is your position on this issue?
2. Construct an argument . . .
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
3. As you develop your argument, . . .
4. Support your position . . .
5. Support your views . . .
6. To strengthen your position . . .
7. The writer argues . . .
8. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree . . .
9. Present the reasons for your opinion . . .
10. Consider opposing views . . .
Persuasive writing that uses an appeal to reason is often called argumentation.
Format of Persuasive Questions
A persuasive prompt will take one of three forms:
1. A question
2. A statement
3. A quotation
Here are three sample persuasive writing prompts with the key words and
phrases underlined. Each one takes a different form.
A Question
Should state college tuition be free for all students who graduate college with a B average?
After all, state colleges are funded by tax revenues. On the other hand, education taxes are
already very high. Further, why should taxpayers without college-aged children be encumbered by this additional tax burden?
Assignment: What is your position on this issue? Construct an argument
explaining your position. As you develop your argument, support your views
with relevant reasons and examples from your experiences, observations, and
reading. To strengthen your position, you might wish to consider alternative or
opposing views.
A Statement
You should never tell children their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more
humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.
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Assignment: This statement suggests that children should be allowed to follow
their dreams. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Write an essay in which you explain your point of view. Support your views
with specific examples and details drawn from your own experiences, literature, and the arts. As you develop your argument, consider opposing views: for
example, it would be cruel as well as wasteful to allow children to chase after
outlandish goals.
A Quotation
And one example, whether love or fear doth work more in a child for virtue and learning,
I will gladly report; which may be heard with some pleasure and followed with more profit.
Before I went into Germany, I took my leave of that noble Lady Jane Grey . . . “And how
came you, madam,” I said, “to this deep knowledge of pleasure, and what did chiefly allure
you unto it, seeing not many women, but very few men, have attained thereunto?” “I will
tell you,” quoth she, “and tell you a truth which perchance ye will marvel at. One of the
great benefits I had was sharp and severe parents and so gentle a schoolmaster. For when I
am in presence either of father or mother, whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand, or go,
eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I must do
it, as it were, in such weight, measure, and number, even so perfectly or else I am so sharply
taunted, so cruelly threatened, yea, presently sometimes, with pinches, nips, and bobs, that I
think myself in hell till time come that I must go to Master Aylmer, who teacheth me so
gently, so pleasantly, with such fair allurements to learning, that I think all the time nothing
whilst I am with him.
Assignment: In this excerpt from Roger Ascham’s The Schoolmaster, Lady Jane
Grey argues that both love and fear are necessary to educate children. Explain the
extent to which you agree or disagree with Lady Jane Grey’s position. Support
your position with examples from your experiences, observations, and reading.
Current samples released by the ETS indicate that 75 percent of the essay questions are
persuasive. If study time is short, concentrate on mastering persuasive rather than expository
essays.
Acknowledging the Opposition
All the persuasive writing prompts on the SAT will have two sides. Otherwise,
they would be expository rather than persuasive! Choose the side that you can
support most strongly. This may or may not be the side you truly believe in,
but that’s not the point here: Rather, the point is to write the most logical and
persuasive essay that you can. By choosing the side you can support the most
strongly, you increase your chances of earning a high score. That’s because
your essay will have stronger proof: examples, details, statistics, and facts.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
In Rhetoric, Aristotle said: “Whether our argument concerns public affairs
or some other subject, we must know some, if not all, of the facts about the
subject on which we are to argue. Otherwise, we can have no materials out of
which to construct arguments.” Remember: Effective persuasive writing uses
specific support, not vague references to unidentified studies and sources.
You can’t evaluate “many important experiments” or “recent clinical studies”
unless you know how they were undertaken, by whom, and where the results
were published.
You do not have to acknowledge the opposition, but your essay will usually
be stronger if you do. Don’t give the same space to the opposition as you do to
your points. Devote more space to your argument or place it last in your essay,
so readers will understand that it’s crucial.
You can deal with the opposition by
■
Identifying the main arguments against your side
■
Acknowledging the arguments in your writing
■
Countering the opposition
When you are addressing an audience that does not agree with your argument, search for common ground, or areas of agreement. If you can get readers to agree with you on one point, they are more likely to be persuaded by
your other points.
There are three main ways that you can deal with the opposition to decrease
its force. These methods are as follows:
1. Show the opposition is wrong.
2. Show the opposition has some merit, but give a point of your own that is
just as convincing.
3. Show the opposition has merit, but your point is stronger.
Let’s look at each strategy in turn.
Method 1: Show the Opposition is Wrong
Read the practice SAT writing question. Then read the portion of the sample
answer that follows. Note how the answer acknowledges the opposition straight
away and then sets about disproving it.
Public television, such as PBS, is commercial-free. Should all television be commercial-free? After
all, commercials not only encourage rampant consumerism but also set up unrealistic expectations and waste our time.
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Assignment: To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Write an essay in which you explain your point of view. Support your views
with specific examples and details drawn from your own experiences. As you
develop your argument, consider opposing views: For example, television commercials have merit.
opposition
rebuttal
Very few people claim to like television commercials. Most people say that television commercials are annoying and insulting. The best that people can say about television commercials is
that they give us time to get something to eat. But this view is unfair, since TV commercials
have many advantages.
First of all, many people claim that television commercials are more misleading than informative. They say that television ads manipulate the truth in order to get people to buy products.
While it is true that television advertisers use strategies that encourage viewers to buy
things, there are strong laws and regulations that ensure truth in advertising.
Method 2: Show the Opposition Has Some Merit, but Your Point Is Just as Good
Here’s another paragraph from the same essay. See how the clever writer dealt
with the opposition by presenting a point that is equally convincing. Use this
technique if you can’t come up with a point that is stronger.
opposition
rebuttal
Some people complain that television commercials are annoying and even in bad taste. People
who complain about the ads do have a valid point.
But if the public demanded television commercials that were in good taste, ones that did
not manipulate or insult the viewer, we would get better commercials. If enough people wrote
to the companies to protest offensive ads, there would be enough pressure to make the commercials better.
Method 3: Show the Opposition Has Merit, but Your Point Is Stronger
For an especially strong essay, acknowledge the other side, but rebut with your
own point—and make it very convincing. Here’s how one writer did it:
opposition
rebuttal
Second, television commercials inform viewers of new products such as no-fat snack foods.
They also show us new uses for old products. For example, baking soda ads on TV show us
how to use the product to take odors out of the refrigerator and carpets, not just for baking.
There are some people who say that people can learn about products and services in
other ways—through magazine and newspaper ads, for example.
To some extent this is true. However, a person would have to buy and read many, many
newspapers and magazines to get as much information from print as we do from television. Who has time to read all these newspapers and magazines? It is clear that television
commercials are a much more efficient way to get information about products.
Your Turn
Now, write the essay on TV commercials yourself. As you write, consider how you
want to deal with the opposition. Write your answer on a separate piece of paper.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
How Do I Arrange My Information?
There are several ways to arrange the information in a persuasive essay. Below
are two ways that are especially well suited for answering a persuasive essay
question on the new SAT, the chunk method and the slice method.
The Chunk Method
I call this the chunk method because you deal with the main points in chunks,
as follows:
■
All of their side (the opposition)
■
All of your side
Study this outline:
Persuasive Essay Structure 1: Chunk Method
I.
Introduction
A. Thesis sentence
B. Summary of opposition
C. Summary of your side
D. Transition or lead-in sentence to the next paragraph
II. Background (if necessary)
III. Opposition (one to two points)
A. Topic sentence
B. Point 1
C. Point 2
IV. Your side of the argument (2 to 4 points)
A. Topic sentence
B. Point 1
C. Point 2
D. Point 3
V. Conclusion
A. Topic sentence
B. Summarize the opposition
C. Summarize your side
D. Make your point
Model Essay
Here’s a model persuasive essay organized according to the chunk method.
Follow the sidebars as you read to help you analyze the essay’s structure.
Should students be forced to wear uniforms to school? After all, uniforms help parents save
money. School uniforms also reduce clothing competition and help safeguard the schools.
However, they do impinge on individuality.
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Assignment: What is your position on this issue? Construct an argument
explaining your position. As you develop your argument, support your views
with relevant reasons and examples from your experiences, observations, and
reading. To strengthen your position, you might wish to consider alternative or
opposing views.
1 Thesis sentence
2 Summary of opposition
3 Summary of your side
4 Transition to the next paragraph
5 Topic sentence
6 Point 1: Opposition
7 Point 2: Opposition
8 Topic sentence
9 Point 1: Your side
10 Point 2: Your side
11 Point 3: Your side
12 Topic sentence
13 Summarize the opposition
14 Summarize your side
15 Make your point
[1] There has been much controversy over whether or not students should be required to
wear uniforms to school. [2] School uniforms help parents to save money and help to prevent
many conflicts among students. [3] However, forcing students to wear uniforms may cause
students to lose their sense of individuality and halt any creativity that they otherwise would
express through their wardrobe. [4] Let’s examine the advantages of wearing school uniforms.
[5] There are several reasons that having school uniforms are beneficial. [6] For example, parents will save money on buying their children clothing and therefore will have
more money to spend on extra things. A uniform costs under $100 and the average child
needs only two per year. A complete school wardrobe, in contrast, can cost hundreds, even
thousands, of dollars. The money saved on uniforms could be put into a savings account
for college or even a car. [7] Having uniforms may also eliminate cliques. When I walked
through my high school, I could always tell which students were friends with each other
because they would be dressed similarly. The “jocks” wore jerseys with team names emblazoned across the back, while the “burn-outs” wore chains, baggy pants, and black T-shirts.
If everyone wore uniforms and looked the same, then students from different groups
might interact with each other more.
[8] The disadvantages of wearing uniforms outweigh the advantages. [9] First, the
peace and uniformity that school uniforms bring comes at a very high price: loss of individuality. I can’t imagine how stultifying it would be to wear the same thing every day. I
have a close friend who attends a school that requires uniforms. “Because of my uniform,
I’m forced to pretend to be someone I’m not,” she says. She looks forward to school “dressdown days,” when she can choose her own clothing. [10] Further, many people express
their emotions and interests through their clothing. For instance, when the Rangers win a
big game, I wear my Rangers jersey to school to show my support for the team. If I’m
going to a wrestling show after school, I wear my wrestling T-shirt to school. If your
school required uniforms, you would not be able to wear the new sweater you got for your
birthday or the hat you got at the Yankees’ game. [11] Finally, uniforms aren’t comfortable.
Since they are made to be sturdy and easy to clean, they are often stiff, rough, and scratchy.
I tried on my friend’s uniform skirt and had difficulty getting comfortable. It certainly
wasn’t as soft as my fleece pants.
[12] In conclusion, there are both advantages and disadvantages to wearing uniforms.
[13] There’s no doubt that uniforms help parents save money and reduce conflicts among
students. [14] However, uniforms take away individuality and creative expression that
often comes from our choice of clothing. [14] Uniforms also restrict our freedom of
expression. [14] Last, they are not comfortable and so may actually make it more difficult
for kids to concentrate in school. [15] For these reasons and others, students should not be
forced to wear uniforms to school.
Your Turn
Now, write this essay yourself. As you write, follow the chunk organizational
method you just learned. Write your answer on a separate piece of paper.
The Slice Method
I call this the slice method because you deal with the main points in slices,
as follows:
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
■
Point one
Their side (the opposition)
Your side
■
Point two
Their side (the opposition)
Your side
■
Point three
Their side (the opposition)
Your side
Study this outline:
Persuasive Essay Structure 2: Slice Method
I.
Introduction
A. Thesis sentence
B. Summary of points to follow
C. Transition or lead-in sentence to the next paragraph
II. Background (if necessary)
III. Your first main point
A. Topic sentence
B. Opposition
C. Your side
IV. Your second main point
A. Topic sentence
B. Opposition
C. Your side
V. Your third main point
A. Topic sentence
B. Opposition
C. Your side
VI. Conclusion
A. Topic sentence
B. Summary of the opposition
C. Summary of your side
D. Summary of your point
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If you’re having a hard time finding the most suitable organizational plan for your ideas, try
jotting each main topic on scraps of paper. Arrange the scraps in various ways to see which
arrangement makes the most sense, given your purpose and readers.
Model Essay
Here’s an essay answering the same question organized by the slice
method. Follow the sidebars as you read to help you analyze the essay’s
structure.
1 Thesis sentence
2 Summary of points to follow
3 Transition to the next paragraph
4 Topic sentence
5 First main point: Opposition
6 First main point: Your side
7 Topic sentence
8 Second main point: Opposition
9 Second main point: Your side
10 Topic sentence
11 Third main point: Opposition
12 Third main point: Your side
[1] Should students be forced to wear uniforms to school? [2] Supporters of school
uniforms argue that they save money, reduce clothing competition, and help safeguard
our schools. [2] The opposition argues that these claims are fraudulent; in fact, school
uniforms are little more than a Band-Aid that covers far more serious problems.
[3] Let’s examine the advantages of wearing school uniforms.
[4] Those who champion school uniforms claim they will help keep clothing budgets reasonable, but will parents really save money? [5] A uniform costs under $100 and
the average student needs only two to three per year. A complete school wardrobe, in
contrast, can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The money saved on uniforms could be put into a savings account for college or even a car. [6] However, students who have to have all the latest fashions will want these clothes regardless of
practicality. They’ll find time to wear designer jeans, name-brand shirts, and trendy
shoes on weekends, evenings, and holidays. Further, many students who are constrained
by uniforms will want expensive accessories. For girls, these “must-have” accessories
include extravagant hair ribbons and clips, designer handbags, and high-priced
watches. Students of both sexes will still want costly backpacks and pricey gold and silver jewelry. Thus, parents will end up buying uniforms as well as complete school/dress
wardrobes.
[7] Supporters of school uniforms also argue that uniforms reduce clothing competition. [8] Well, uniforms would certainly diminish informal classroom contests for
“best-dressed.” How can you try to “one-up” someone if you’re both wearing nearly the
same thing? [9] However, this conformity comes at a high price: loss of individuality. I
can’t imagine how stultifying it would be to wear the same thing every day. I have a
close friend who attends a school that requires uniforms. “Because I wear a uniform,
I’m forced to pretend to be someone I’m not,” she says. She looks forward to school
“dress-down days,” when she can choose her own clothing. Further, many people
express their emotions and interests through their clothing. For instance, when the
Rangers win a big game, I wear my Rangers jersey to school to show my support for the
team. If I’m going to a wrestling show after school, I wear my wrestling T-shirt to
school. If your school required uniforms, you would not be able to wear the new
sweater you got for your birthday or the hat you got at the Yankees’ game.
[10] Advocates of school uniforms argue that uniforms can indeed help prevent
crime in schools. [11] Yes, they might prevent thugs from smuggling in weapons hidden in baggy pants and jackets. [12] However, if an intruder wants to enter the school
and create trouble, he or she will find a way. Uniforms are useless in stopping an adult
intruder (such as a noncustodial parent out to snatch his or her child), unless the
administration issues identification badges to all adults.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
13 Topic sentence
14 Summary of the opposition
15 Summary of your side
16 Summary of your point
[13] In conclusion, school uniforms are a highly controversial topic. [14] Those in
favor of school uniforms argue that they cost far less money than a full school
wardrobe, decrease obsessions with faddish and costly clothing, and help safeguard our
schools. [15] Unfortunately, school uniforms are not the panacea their backers claim.
They don’t save parents significant amounts on clothing budgets, do little to erase class
awareness, and cannot protect our children from intruders. [16] For these reasons and
others, students should not be forced to wear uniforms to school.
Notice how smoothly the writer deals with the opposition within each paragraph. Notice
that your side is always more fully developed with details and examples than the opposing
side. Always save your strongest point for your side to persuade your readers that your point
is deserving of more serious consideration.
Your Turn
Now, write this essay yourself. As you write, follow the slice organizational
method you just learned. Write your answer on a separate piece of paper.
Chunk or Slice?
When should you use the chunk method, and when should you use the slice
method?
Use the chunk method when
• You have more points on your side than the opposition has.
• The opposition is rather weak.
• Your audience is neutral or receptive to your ideas.
Use the slice method when
• You have the same number of points on your side and on the opposition’s side.
• The opposition is rather strong.
• Your audience is likely to be hostile to your ideas.
Variations on a Theme
Now that you know the basic format, you can vary it to suit your topic. For
example, you may choose to play down the opposition or add examples in
story form to make your point. There are numerous variations. Always choose
the one that suits your purpose and audience.
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Point-by-Point Method
Here’s one possible variation, adapted from the persuasive format:
Persuasive Essay Structure 3: Point by Point
I.
Introduction
A. Thesis sentence
B. Summary of your side
C. Transition or lead-in sentence to the next paragraph
II. Your first point
A. Topic sentence
B. Details and examples
C. Details and examples
D. Conclusion
III. Your second point
A. Topic sentence
B. Details and examples
C. Details and examples
D. Conclusion
IV. Your third point
A. Topic sentence
B. Details and examples
C. Details and examples
D. Conclusion
V. Conclusion
A. Topic sentence
B. Summary of first point
C. Summary of second point
D. Summary of third point
E. Conclusion
Model Essay
Below is a sample SAT question organized by the point-by-point method.
Follow the sidebars as you read to help you analyze the essay’s structure.
“Television is chewing gum for the mind,” a critic once claimed. Is television merely a timewaster, or does it have valuable lessons to teach us?
Assignment: What is your position on this issue? Construct an argument
explaining your position. As you develop your argument, support your views
with relevant reasons and examples from your experiences, observations, and
reading. To strengthen your position, you might wish to consider alternative or
opposing views.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
Let’s Hear It for TV!
1 Thesis statement
2 Summary of your side
3 Transition
4 Topic sentence
5 Details and examples
6 Details and examples
7 Conclusion
8 Topic sentence
9 Details and examples
10 Details and examples
11 Conclusion
12 Topic sentence
13 Details and examples
14 Conclusion
15 Topic sentence
16 Summary of first point
17 Summary of second point
18 Summary of third point
[1] Most people are quick to condemn television as a despoiler of America’s youth, but
I think TV has a lot going for it. [2] In fact, television has helped me in three very
important ways. [2] First, watching television helped me learn English. [2] Second, it
taught me a lot about American culture. [2] Finally, television helped me stay out of
trouble when I was younger. [3] Television was especially important to me when I first
came to America. [3] Most important, watching television helped me learn English.
[4] When I came to the United States, I spoke only a few words of English, but television came to my rescue. [5] Since I was 12 years old, I was placed in the seventh
grade. [5] I was the same age as every other student in the classroom, but I could not
communicate with a single person. [5] When I got home from school every day, I did
not have anything to do since I did not have any friends. [6] To pass the time, I
watched cartoons and the local news. [6] As I gradually learned more English, I started
watching sitcoms and soap operas. My English improved rapidly. [6] As a result, I was
able to communicate more easily with my classmates and teacher and so did much better in school. I made some good friends, too, and felt more at home in my new country.
[7] By helping me learn English, television helped me acculturate to American life.
[8] Television also helped me learn about American culture. [9] I found out from
watching television that life in America is very different in some regards from life in my
birthplace, Korea. [9] In Korea, for example, most of the television commercials are
about education. [10] In America, however, most of the commercials are about cars,
food, and clothing. [11] This suggested to me that Americans are encouraged to be
materialistic. [11] I probably would have learned this eventually without television, but
watching TV helped me realize what American life is like much more quickly.
[12] Finally, watching television helped me stay out of trouble. As you have read, I
watched a great deal of television when I was a child. [13] Some of the commercials
were public service announcements about drug and alcohol abuse. [13] These commercials were very slick and persuasive. [14] As a result, they helped me realize the importance of staying straight. [14] In addition, I rarely hung out at night because I preferred
to be inside watching my favorite shows, especially movies.
[15] As an immigrant, I found television an invaluable way of learning English.
[16] Thanks to TV, I quickly mastered the rudiments of the language and learned a great
deal about American culture. [17] Television also helped me avoid drug and alcohol
abuse and even gangs. [18] So don’t be so quick to criticize TV; for many of us, it’s a
lifeline.
Your Turn
Now, write this essay yourself. As you write, follow the point-by-point organizational method you just learned. Write your answer on a separate piece of
paper.
Appeal to Reason, Emotion, and Ethics
Aristotle, the Father of Persuasion, believed that argument meant discovering
all the available ways of persuasion in a situation that had two equally feasible
sides. Aristotle settled on three ways that people could convince others to
adopt a certain point of view or approve a course of action. Broadly stated, he
identified these three elements as
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■
Logos. The appeal to the audience’s reason
■
Pathos. The appeal to the audience’s emotions
■
Ethos. The degree of confidence that the writer’s character or personality
inspires in readers
The goal of these three appeals is the same, although each one takes a different
approach. Each appeal can be used separately, or they can be combined to
increase the effectiveness of your argument. In general, high-scoring SAT essays
will appeal to reason and ethics rather than emotion.
Model Essays
Read the following two SAT essays. Decide how much reason, emotion, and
ethics the author uses in each one.
You ask me why I do not write something. . . . I think one’s feelings waste themselves in
words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.
Assignment: Here, Florence Nightingale argues that action is far more important than words. On the other hand, the right words have the power to change
the world by moving people to action. Discuss the extent to which you agree or
disagree with Nightingale’s statement. Support your position by providing
examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
Model 1
Florence Nightingale believed that “one’s feelings waste themselves in words,” because
only “actions . . . bring results.” She must have heard enough words in her time to justify
her feelings that doing things is far more important than merely talking about them.
However, with all due respect to Ms. Nightingale, she is incorrect. Words have torn down
mountains that actions could not have budged.
Words stir up the masses and get them to move on an issue. Thomas Paine showed
this in his famous series of pamphlets, “Common Sense.” Paine wrote his incendiary
pamphlets on the eve of the American Revolution to stir up support for the Patriot
cause. At that time, only a third of all colonists supported the Revolution: another third
were staunch Loyalists, while the last third were indifferent. It was the last camp that
Paine convinced with his stirring rhetoric. The “summer soldier and the sunshine
patriot” were convinced by his words and took up arms against oppression. On his own,
Paine could not have won America’s independence, but his pamphlets convinced many
colonists that they must seek their freedom from England.
“The Declaration of Independence” is another example of the power of words. This
document declared that Americans would no longer allow themselves to be ruled by
Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author, detailed the reasons for the rebellion. The Declaration created a sense of unity by putting into words what many people
thought about King George’s outrageous actions against us. The Declaration gave the
colonists concrete reasons for fighting and announced to the world that we were no
longer a British colony.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle didn’t have anything to do with revolution, but it
served to spark one nonetheless. His book described the atrocities of the Chicago meatpacking industry. He detailed the filthy packing houses, with rats and even human limbs
folded into sausage. He told about the workers’ terrible lives, oppressed by an unfair system that cheated them out of their youth and strength. The national outcry that resulted
from this novel forced the federal government to establish the Pure Food and Drug Act.
This not only regulated the industry but also improved the standards of American food
to this day. By himself, Sinclair could not have forced the federal government to clean up
the food industry, but his words did.
It is sad that Florence Nightingale does not appreciate the power of words to change
and shape reality. Perhaps she doesn’t realize that without words, she could not have
expressed her own feelings in the quote.
Model 2
Florence Nightingale believed that “one’s feelings waste themselves in words,” because
only “actions . . . bring results.” She must have heard enough words in her time to justify
her feelings that doing things is far more important than merely talking about them. I
agree with Ms. Nightingale, for I believe that in the majority of occasions, acting on something outweighs talking it to death.
Granted there are times when the spoken or written word is necessary to arouse the
masses and get them to move on an issue. Thomas Paine showed this in his famous series
of pamphlets, “Common Sense.” Paine wrote his incendiary pamphlets on the eve of the
American Revolution to stir up support for the Patriot cause. At that time, only a third of
all colonists supported the Revolution: another third were staunch Patriots, while the last
third were indifferent. It was the last camp that Paine convinced with his stirring rhetoric. The “summer soldier and the sunshine patriot” were convinced by his words and
took up arms against oppression. On his own, Paine could not have won America’s independence, but his pamphlets convinced many colonists that they must seek their freedom
from England.
But in many more instances, acting on issues accomplishes far more than talking or
writing about them. For example, former President Bill Clinton talked tough against terrorism but did not take action. He claimed he would fight against America’s enemies, but
when the Sudan offered him Osama bin Laden, he refused. Perhaps, if Clinton had taken
bin Laden prisoner and sent troops into his lair, America would not have been attacked on
September 11. Now that President Bush is taking firm action against terrorism, we stand a
chance of making our country safe once again. In most instances, actions do more good
than words alone. Although there are times when words are necessary to motivate people
to act, words must be supported by action itself.
Your Turn
Now, write this essay yourself. As you write, appeal to reason, emotion, ethics,
or any combination that will most effectively persuade your audience. Write
your answer on a separate piece of paper.
How to Write a High-Scoring Expository SAT Essay
Expository essays explain. You can remember that exposition is writing that
explains by using this memory trick: Exposition = explains. Further, both words
start with the same three letters: exp.
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Exposition can be organized in the following ways:
■
Cause-and-effect analysis
■
Chronological order
■
Classify-and-divide analysis
■
Compare and contrast essays
■
Definition essays
■
Order of importance (news story)
■
Problem and solution essays
■
Process analysis (how-to) essays
Exposition shows and tells by giving information about a specific topic. On the
SAT essay, the topic will be given to you. How you choose to organize your
essay always depends on the following two considerations:
Topic. The subject; what you are writing about
Audience. Who will read your writing
How Do I Arrange My Information?
It’s likely that you will arrange the details of your analysis in chronological order
or the order of importance. Therefore, let’s look at these methods of arranging
details. For both methods, use the point-by-point outline as your framework.
You learned this method of arranging details earlier in this chapter on page 136.
Using Chronological Order
With this organizational plan, you arrange your ideas in the order in which
they happened, from first to last. This is a handy method of organization to use
with expository essays if all the ideas are of equal rank. By arranging them in
time order, you sidestep the issue of which ones are most important.
You may wish to construct a brief timeline to help you order events.
Chronological essays often include transitions that help readers track the order
of events. These words include actual dates, with days of the week, months,
and years. In addition, you can use the following time-order clue words:
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
Time-order Transitions
after
last
subsequently
at that time
later
succeeding
finally
next
soon after
first, second, etc.
now
then
Model Essay
Study this model expository essay.
Great achievements involve . . .
Assignment: Complete this statement with an example from history, literature,
current events, or your own experience. Using the completed statement, write a
well-organized essay in which you explain what you believe great achievements
require.
1 First sentence grabs reader’s attention and shows
command of language.
2 Narrows focus to topic.
3 Topic sentence placed last to serve as a lead-in.
4 Main ideas arranged in time order.
5 Date shows time order of events.
6 Writer makes the point.
7 Main ideas arranged in time order.
8 Date shows time order of events.
9 Transition (“finally”) shows time order.
10 Writer makes the point.
11 Writer makes the point.
12 Parallel structure shows sophisticated command
of language.
When you look back at your life at its end, what will stand out from
the daily rhetoric between breakfast and bed? [1] One of the most
important parts of your legacy will be your achievements. And if you
are able to smile at the great thief as he takes you into the night, your
achievements must be of the highest standards. Unfortunately, these
goals can prove elusive. Often, they can be achieved only through great
risk. [2] We can see this through American history. [3] America is a
great country in large part because of the Americans who took risks.
[4] The patriots of the American Revolution risked their lives by
fighting against the Mother Country, Great Britain. For example,
Thomas Paine, an ordinary man who worked at a variety of ordinary
jobs, wrote a stirring call to arms in [5] 1776, when most colonists still
hoped the quarrel with England could be resolved without bloodshed.
Paine’s most famous pamphlet, “The American Crisis,” convinced
many colonists that they would have to fight for freedom. Paine’s risk
was great indeed: King George put a price on his head. If caught, Paine
would have been executed. [6] Paine’s brave writings helped achieve
freedom for the colonists and independence for America.
[7] Centuries later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., took great risks for
freedom as well. [8] In the mid-1950s, Dr. King first organized a bus
boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest racial segregation in public transportation. King was arrested and jailed; his home was bombed
and many threats were made against his life. [9] Finally, King’s risk
paid off when the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public
transportation in the city. [10] Dr. King showed that nonviolent
protest could bring about great achievements.
[11] Great achievements often involve great risk. Thomas Paine
helped the colonists wrest freedom from Great Britain. His risk? His
life. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped bring racial equality to all
Americans. His risk? His life and the lives of his family and friends.
[12] Not all achievements require such tremendous peril, but nothing
great was ever accomplished without blood, sweat, and tears.
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Your Turn
Now, write this essay yourself. As you write, use chronological order. Write
your answer on a separate piece of paper.
Using Order of Importance
With this organizational plan, you draw attention to your key ideas by placing
them first in your essay. By leading with your strongest points, you impress the
scorers with your grasp of the issues. You can also arrange ideas from most to
least important, or save the second most important point for last. The following diagrams show these variations visually:
Most important point
Most important point
↓
↓
Less important points
or
Least important points
↓
↓
Least important point
Second most important point
You can also use transitions such as most important, first of all, second, and so
on to show order of importance.
Model Essay
Study this model expository essay:
Students fail in school because of . . .
Assignment: Complete this statement with an example from history,
literature, current events, or your own experience. Using the completed
statement, write a well-organized essay in which you explain why students
fail in school.
1 Topic sentence is on target.
2 Ideas are arranged in order of importance
.
3 Most important idea
4 Specific details
5 Writer makes the point.
Some people argue that students fail in school because of dull subject matter, poor
teaching, or inadequate families. I don’t agree. [1] I think that students do poorly in
school due to a lack of effort on their own part. Everyone has the opportunity to do
well in school. [2] Success depends on individual students, whether they are willing
to put in the effort and time required to do their best.
[3] Most importantly, too many students refuse to take responsibility for their
actions. [4] They often say, “It’s not my fault; the teacher doesn’t know how to
teach,” or “The class is so boring that you can’t expect me to pay attention.” Instead,
students should say, “It’s my fault because I didn’t study enough” or “I should have
turned off the hockey game and opened up the textbook.” Sometimes you will get a
teacher who isn’t that good or a subject that is boring to you. [5] But that’s no
excuse; you have to deal with it and take charge of your own future.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
6 Second most important idea
7 Specific details
8 Specific details
9 Nice touch of humor
10 Writer makes the point.
11 Most important point
12 Second most important point
[6] Secondly, you have to be willing to put in the time to succeed. [7] My friends
often say, “I just don’t have the time to do all the work they assign in high school.”
The time is there; it’s up to the student to use it wisely. [8] Students have to learn to
shut off the Playstation, sign off from AOL, and hang up the telephone. They may
have to cut back the number of hours they are working, too, and watch less television. Instead of hanging out with friends every night, they should consider hanging
out with them every other night, or just on weekends. [9] Once you finish your
school work, you can stand in front of the convenience store as long as you like.
Setting clear priorities will make it easier for you to write that term paper and study
for that midterm exam.
[10] Achievement in high school is important. It is often a crucial factor in your
future. So when students fail in high school, we can place the blame where it
belongs: on their shoulders. [11] Most important, students must take charge of their
work. [12] Second, they must spend the time they need to do their best. You can’t
win it if you’re not in it.
Your Turn
Now, write this essay yourself. As you write, use order of importance. Write
your answer on a separate piece of paper.
Practice Writing Prompts
Complete each of the following writing assignments under test conditions. Be
sure to allow yourself no more than 25 minutes for each essay. Pace yourself to
make sure you finish the essay in the time required. If you finish with more
than a few minutes to spare, you are not spending enough time on details,
examples, editing, and proofreading.
1. “Characters on television can best be described as . . .”
Assignment: Are they brash and rude? Are they interesting and knowledgeable?
Are they somewhere in between? Complete this statement with an example
from your own experience. Using the completed statement, write a well-organized essay in which you explain how you describe the characters you watch on
television shows.
2. “Learn the rules; then break some.”
Assignment: Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with this assertion. Support your position by providing reasons and examples from your own
experience, observations, or reading. Be sure to cite at least two examples.
3. “What, then, is the American, this new man? He is neither a European nor
the descendent of a European; hence that strange mixture of blood, which
you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose
grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons now have four wives of
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different nations. He is an American who, leaving behind all his ancient
prejudices and manners, received new ones from the new mode of life he
has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new ranks he holds.
He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great
Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of
men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the
world.”
Assignment: In this statement, Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur argues that
America is a “melting pot” because we set aside our heritage to embrace a new
one. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his assertion.
Support your position by providing reasons and examples from your own
experience, observations, or reading. Be sure to cite at least two examples.
4. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Assignment: In this statement, American humorist Will Rogers argues for
individual action. However, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, as
the Japanese say. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with
Rogers’s assertion. Support your position by providing reasons and examples
from your own experience, observations, or reading.
5. “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.”
Assignment: In this statement, President John F. Kennedy argues that a valuable idea outlives its creator. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree
with his assertion. Be sure to cite at least two ideas that have outlived their creators. Support your position by providing reasons and examples from your
own experience, observations, or reading.
6. “A successful individual is one who has achieved meaningful work and
meaningful love.”
Assignment: Sigmund Freud argues that we need both purposeful work and
meaningful love to be considered a “success.” Agree or disagree with Freud’s
position, discussing what you think makes someone a “success.” Support your
position by providing at least two examples of successful people you know. Be
sure to explain what makes them successful in your eyes or society’s eyes.
7. “Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other
goods.”
Assignment: Aristotle argues that we need friends more than anything else.
However, friends can often hurt you as much as they help you. Discuss the
extent to which you agree or disagree with Aristotle’s assertion. Support your
position by providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
PART 6: Strategies for Success on the Essay Question
8. “It has been my experience that one cannot, in any shape or form, depend
on human relations for lasting reward. It is only work that truly satisfies.”
Assignment: Bette Davis’s statement appears to be the direct opposite of
Aristotle’s belief in that Davis claims that only work brings lasting pleasure, not
friendships, love, or other human bondings. However, some friends and lovers
do stick with you for the long haul, while jobs and careers can vanish in the
blink of an eye (especially now, with layoffs and a sinking economy). Discuss
the extent to which you agree or disagree with Davis’s assertion. Support your
position by providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
9. “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t
recognize them.”
Assignment: Ann Landers (the late author of a newspaper advice column)
argues that we make our own opportunities, our own “good luck,” by working
hard. She suggests that hard work = success, so if you want to get ahead, you
have to work hard. On the other hand, some people appear to get by without
much effort. They seem to have all the luck. Discuss the extent to which you
agree or disagree with Landers’s statement. Support your position by providing
examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
10. “Lawyers are expected to provide free legal services at some time in their
careers. Doctors should or should not have the same obligation to provide free medical care at some time in their careers to people who cannot
afford care.”
Assignment: What is your position on this issue? Construct an argument
explaining your position. Support your views with examples from your experiences, observations, and reading. To strengthen your position, you might wish
to consider alternative or opposing views.
11. “Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor
and attended to with diligence.”
Assignment: Here, Abigail Adams, in 1780, argues that learning is a conscious,
active process. Successful students work hard at their studies, she suggests.
However, learning seems to come naturally and easily to some people—or does
it? Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with Adams’s statement.
Support your position by providing examples from your own experience,
observations, or reading. To strengthen your position, you might wish to consider alternative or opposing views.
12. In Meditation 17, English poet John Donne said, “No man is an island,
entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
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[land] . . . Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it
tolls for thee.”
Assignment: In this famous passage, Donne argues that we are all connected
to one another. Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his
assertion. Support your views with reasons and examples from your experiences, observations, and reading. To strengthen your position, you might wish
to consider alternative or opposing views.
13. “We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of
those we don’t like?”
Assignment: Jean Cocteau suggests that we claim people we dislike must be
lucky if they are successful. Otherwise, we must face the fact that they work
harder than we do, are more intelligent, or are more determined and focused.
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the quote. Support your
views with reasons and examples from your experiences, observations, and reading.
14. “Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass
no criticisms.”
Assignment: George Eliot argues that many pets make great companions.
Other people, however, find pets to be dirty, stupid, and even dangerous. What
is your position on this issue? Support your views with relevant reasons and
examples from your experiences. To strengthen your position, consider opposing views.
15. “Same-sex schools provide a better education than co-ed schools.”
Assignment: What is your position on this issue? Construct an argument
explaining your position. Support your views with relevant reasons and examples from your experiences. To strengthen your position, consider opposing
views.
P A R T
Two Sample Verbal SAT
Tests for Practice
7
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Click here for terms of use.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Two Sample Verbal SAT
Tests for Practice
The two tests that follow were constructed to represent what you will
encounter on the Verbal part of the SAT. Since the new SAT has yet to be
given, these tests are based on the press releases issued by the College Board.
There is always the chance the College Board will adjust the format as it
develops the test.
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PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Practice Test 1
SECTION 1
TIME—25 MINUTES; 24 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences have one or two blanks, each of which
indicates a missing word. Beneath each sentence are five words or pairs of
words. Choose the word or pair of words which, when inserted in the sentence,
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Indicate your answer by filling
in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
1. She delivered her speech with great
———, gesturing flamboyantly
with her hands and smiling broadly
from her opening remarks to her
conclusion.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
inertia
indolence
sluggishness
passivity
verve
2. They were capable and literate young
women trained for the variety of
——— and demanding tasks of
farm life.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
facile
erudite
effortless
impossible
arduous
3. Their reading was ——— for they
shared books with one another, often
smuggling copies into the factory, to
their overseers’ ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
narrow, consternation
comprehensive, pleasure
labored, disregard
extensive, dismay
pleasurable, satisfaction
4. Having once got hold, the determined wrestlers never let go, but
struggled and wrestled and rolled on
the chips ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
fastidiously
sluggishly
incessantly
sporadically
gingerly
5. There were moments, indeed, when
warm gushes of pity swept away her
instinctive ——— of his condition,
when she still found his old self in his
eyes as they groped for each other
through the dense medium of his
weakness.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
delight
ecstasy
disregard
resentment
liability
6. Although the insurance salesperson
appeared to be a(n) ——— business
professional, she was really a(n)
———.
(A) respectable, miscreant
(B) mediocre, incompetent
(C) honorable, leader
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(D) ignoble, reprobate
(E) base, scoundrel
7. If every one of us, in returning to our
constituents, were to report the
objections he or she has, and
endeavor to gain ——— in support
of these objections, we might thereby
lose all the ——— effects and great
advantages resulting naturally in our
favor among foreign nations from
any real or apparent unanimity.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
partisans, salutary
fanatics, wretched
benefactors, dubious
capitalists, depraved
despots, careless
8. Despite the flawless ———, I was
——— to read the letter since it was
written in Hungarian.
(A) penmanship, empowered
(B) stationery, unqualified
(C) calligraphy, unable
(D) evidence, ineligible
(E) tribute, competent
9. Leeza was not consistent in her
approach to the situation, at once
——— and ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ethical, devoted
indiscreet, neglectful
conscientious, frivolous
acerbic, bitter
evasive, indirect
10. Even though the legislation’s ———
purpose was to curtail false advertising, its tangible outcome was to
——— free speech.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
realistic, bolster
apparent, advance
improbable, laud
unexpected, sustain
ostensible, abridge
DIRECTIONS: Each passage is followed by one or more questions. Answer the
questions based on what is directly stated or suggested in each passage.
Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following passage.
Voting is a privilege some people may take for granted, but it is one of our most precious rights.
1
5
In 1997, Vermont State representative Sydney Nixon was seated as an apparent one vote winner, 570
to 569. Mr. Nixon resigned when the State House determined, after a recount, that he had actually
lost to his opponent Robert Emond 572 to 571. In 1989, a Lansing, Michigan School District millage proposition failed when the final recount produced a tie vote 5,147 to 5,147. On the original
vote count, votes against the proposition were ten more than those in favor. The result meant that
the school district had to reduce its budget by $2.5 million.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
11. Which sentence best summarizes the
content of this passage?
12. The numbers “572 to 571” mentioned
in line 3 serve to emphasize
(A) how close the outcome was
(B) how few people exercise their
right to vote
(C) the insignificance of this particular election
(D) why we need Internet voting
rather than paper ballots
(E) how the voters decided that
Nixon was a better candidate
than Emond
(A) It’s not as important to vote as
you might think.
(B) Even minor elections can have
very important outcomes.
(C) As Americans, we are very fortunate to have the right to vote.
(D) The voting process is laborious
and time-consuming, but in the
end it is worth the time and
trouble.
(E) Just one vote can and often does
make a difference in the outcome of an election.
Questions 13 to 15 are based on the following passage.
The following diary entry was written on April 13, 1645.
1
5
10
Mr. Hopkins, the governor of Hartford upon Connecticut, came to Boston, and brought his wife
with him, (a godly young woman, and of special parts,) who was fallen into a sad infirmity, the loss
of her understanding and reason, which had been growing on her diverse years, by occasion of her
giving herself wholly to reading and writing, and had written many books. Her husband, being very
loving and tender of her, was loath to grieve her; but he saw his error, when it was too late. For if
she had attended to her household affairs, and such things as belong to women, and not gone out of
her way and calling to meddle in such things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, etc.,
she had kept her wits, and might have improved them usefully and honorably. He brought her to
Boston, and left her with her brother, one Mr. Yale, a merchant, to try what means might be had
here for her. But no help could be had.
13. The author of this passage is most
likely
(A) strongly in favor of education
for women
(B) advocating universal health care
(C) vehemently opposed to educating women
(D) against people marrying too
young
(E) proposing arranged marriages
instead of love matches
14. In line 3, diverse most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
different
many
difficult
divided
incomparable
15. Which of the following best states the
main idea of this passage?
(A) Education can be very demanding for all young people and can
even cause them to suffer a
nervous breakdown.
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(B) Wealthier people have strong
advantages when it comes to
educational and medical opportunities.
(C) There is so much household
work to be done that it can only
be accomplished if spouses share
responsibilities equally.
(D) It takes a village to raise a child.
(E) In the seventeenth century, some
people believed that women
were too delicate to take much
learning; rather, they were fit
only for household duties.
Questions 16 to 24 are based on the following passage.
In the following essay, the writer discusses work and its relationship to the whole individual.
1
5
10
15
20
It is one of those fables which out of an unknown antiquity convey an unlooked-for wisdom, that
the gods, in the beginning, divided Man into men, that he might be more helpful to himself; just as
the hand was divided into fingers, the better to answer its end.
The old fable covers a doctrine ever new and sublime; that there is One Man,—present to all
particular men only partially, or through one faculty; and that you must take the whole society to
find the whole man. Man is not a farmer, or a professor, or an engineer, but he is all. Man is priest,
and scholar, and statesman, and producer, and soldier. In the divided or social state these functions
are parceled out to individuals, each of whom aims to do his stint of the joint work, whilst each
other performs his. But, unfortunately, this original unit, this fountain of power, has been so distributed to multitudes, has been so minutely subdivided and peddled out, that it is spilled into
drops, and cannot be gathered. The state of society is one in which the members have suffered
amputation from the trunk, and strut about like so many walking monsters,—a good finger, a neck,
a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.
Man is thus metamorphosed into a thing, into many things. The planter, who is Man sent out
into the field to gather food, is seldom cheered by any idea of the true dignity of his ministry. He
sees his bushel and his cart, and nothing beyond, and sinks into the farmer, instead of Man on the
farm. The tradesman scarcely ever gives an ideal worth to his work, but is ridden by the routine of
his craft, and the soul is subject to dollars. The priest becomes a form; the attorney a statute-book;
the mechanic a machine; the sailor a rope of the ship.
In this distribution of functions the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state he is Man
Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or
still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.
16. The phrase “the better to answer its
end” in line 3 can best be interpreted
to mean
(A) signal the specific type of division
(B) show defeat
(C) better to serve its purpose
(D) destroy the strength of the whole
(E) signal the conclusion of the fable
17. The “old fable” in line 4 refers to
(A) a legend about the naming of
parts
(B) a myth about the beginning of
the world
(C) an allegory about regeneration
(D) the belief that individuals possess only certain talents
(E) a parable concerning change and
metamorphosis
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
18. As used in line 5, the word faculty
most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
a department of learning
aptitude
power
authority
staff
19. The phrase “But, unfortunately”
(line 9) does which of the following
things?
(A) It signals a transition to a new
idea.
(B) It shifts the focus from generalities to individual cases.
(C) It emphasizes the abstract in
place of the concrete.
(D) It signals a continuation of a
previous line of reasoning.
(E) It shows the distribution of
power among individual members of society.
20. Which of the following statements
best expresses the writer’s attitude
toward society?
(A) Society is necessary to ensure
that all labor is accomplished.
(B) That government is best which
governs least.
(C) Society has destroyed humanity’s
wholeness.
(D) Society alone can distribute tasks
equably among its members.
(E) Lack of social controls has
resulted in a sharp rise in industrial accidents.
21. The writer uses the word ministry
(line 15) in relation to the planter to
suggest
(A) the inherent holiness of farming
(B) the farmer would rather be a
minister
(C) the farmer worships the soil and
its abundance
(D) farming’s dependence on the
whims of nature
(E) the importance of having jobs
we like and can excel in
22. The author’s thesis in the third paragraph is developed through
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
repetition of key words
comparison and contrast
a series of examples
alliteration
aphorisms
23. The tone of this essay is best
described as
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
despairing
fiery
soothing
angry
neutral
24. The language of this essay is best
described as
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
colloquial
scholarly and elevated
florid
biased
vague and colorless
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
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SECTION 2
TIME—25 MINUTES; 28 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences have one or two blanks, each of which
indicates a missing word. Beneath each sentence are five words or pairs of
words. Choose the word or pair of words which, when inserted in the sentence,
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Indicate your answer by filling
in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
1. It was at this moment, as I stood
there with the rifle in my hand, that I
first grasped the hollowness, the
——— of the imperialistic dominion
of the East.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
success
triumph
neutrality
future
futility
2. Her unexpected demise, at first mistakenly diagnosed as due to a ———
fever, was later ——— poison.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
mild, attributed to
moderate, blamed on
raging, ascribed to
savage, caused by
simple, occasioned by
3. She looked bloated, like a body long
——— in motionless water, and of
that ——— hue.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
aloft, robust
immersed, ruddy
atop, pellucid
baptized, rosy
submerged, pallid
4. The pawnbroker’s widow was a(n)
——— old woman who loved to
gossip and hear herself talk.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
taciturn
garrulous
withdrawn
vicious
uncommunicative
5. The caretaker did not know she was
due in London today (her call there
had been planned as a surprise), so
his ——— in the manner of leaving
this letter, leaving it to wait in the
dusk and dust, annoyed her.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
alertness
attentiveness
delicateness
negligence
frugality
6. That is, some books are to be read only
in parts; others to be read but ———,
and some few to be read wholly and
with ——— and attention.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
cursorily, diligence
quickly, lethargy
gingerly, neglect
thoughtfully, laxity
discreetly, disregard
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
7. Through one of the broken panes I
heard rain impinge upon the earth
again and again, the fine ———
needles of water playing in the
already ——— flower beds.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ceaseless, groomed
eternal, prim
incessant, sodden
gentle, straight
pungent, saturated
8. The ——— student ——— at the
idea that he had to give a speech in
class.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
timid, recoiled
frail, rejoiced
fragile, reveled
insolent, relapsed
bold, repined
9. Now and then we would see her
standing motionless in one of the
downstairs windows like the carven
torso of a(n) ——— in a(n) ———,
looking or not looking at us, we
could never tell which.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
statue, mistrial
idle, nook
idol, niche
ruffian, courtroom
reprobate, window
10. A thin ——— pall as of the tomb
seemed to lie everywhere upon this
room decked and furnished as for a
wedding, with a silver hairbrush so
tarnished that the monogrammed
initials were ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
luscious, shrouded
pure, sheltered
caustic, apparent
agreeable, camouflaged
acrid, obscured
DIRECTIONS: Each of the following passages is followed by questions. Answer
each question based on what is directly stated or suggested in the related
passage. Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding circle on your
answer sheet.
Questions 11 to 16 are based on the following passage.
Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was a nurse, hospital reformer, and humanitarian. When the Crimean
War broke out in 1854, she was put in charge of all hospital and nursing efforts on the war front, in Turkey.
1
5
10
Eventually the whole business of purveying to the hospitals was, in effect, carried out by Miss
Nightingale. She, alone, it seemed, whatever the contingency, knew where to lay her hands on what
was wanted; she alone possessed the art of circumventing the pernicious influences of official etiquette. On one occasion 27,000 shirts arrived, sent out at her insistence by the Home Government,
and were only waiting to be unpacked. But the official “Purveyor” intervened; “He could only
unpack them” he said, “with an official order from the Government.” Miss Nightingale pleaded in
vain; the sick and the wounded lay half-naked, shivering for want of clothing; and three weeks
elapsed before the Government released the shipment. A little later, on a similar occasion, Miss
Nightingale ordered a Government consignment to be forcibly opened, while the “Purveyor” stood
by, wringing his hands in departmental agony.
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11. The use of the phrase “she alone”
(line 2) gives the reader an idea of
Miss Nightingale’s
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
loneliness
conceit
femininity
uniqueness
inefficiency
12. Describing the influence of official
etiquette as “pernicious” (line 3)
reveals the author’s awareness of the
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
dangers of red tape
efficiency of command procedure
lack of blood plasma
women’s liberation movement
horrors of war
13. The description of the sick and
wounded as “half-naked” and “shivering” in line 7 serves as
(A) an introduction of physical detail
(B) weather information
(C) historic documentation
(D) a contrast to bureaucratic lack of
concern
(E) a metaphor or comparison
14. As used in line 7, the word vain most
nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
with her ego held in check
in a conceited manner
in an arrogant way
without help from anyone else
without any success
15. The Purveyor seems concerned only
with
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
humanity
the ill men
the men’s needs
departmental procedure
Miss Nightingale’s requests
16. The tone of the phrase “departmental
agony” is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
ironic
despairing
serious
tragic
funny
Questions 17 to 20 are based on the following passage.
Government agencies fulfill many different functions. Find out how one government agency relates to
wildlife and nature.
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10
Three Pintail ducks from North America were shot in widely separated places in far distant parts of
the world: one duck was taken near Cali, Colombia, South America; one on an island in the Pacific;
and the last along the Dart River in England. The South American hunter learned that his duck had
come from North Dakota. The weatherman in the Pacific discovered that his bird had been in
northern California, more than 4,600 miles away, just 3 months before. The English sportsman
found that his Pintail duck just 21 days before had been in Labrador, some 2,200 miles across the
Atlantic. How did these hunters know their ducks had come from North America?
It really isn’t such a mystery as it might seem. On the leg of each duck the hunter had found a
small aluminum band, which carried a number and a request that the finder of the band report to
the Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC, USA. Each hunter did exactly that. When their letters reached the Service in Washington, they were sent to the Bird Banding Office where the band
number, species, date of banding, place of banding, and name of the bander are recorded. When
people send in bands they have found, the record can be located quickly.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
17. According to the details in the first
paragraph, how many ducks were
shot?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
3
21
2200
4600
21
18. The main purpose of the first paragraph is to
(A) suggest that hunters are responsible people deeply involved with
conserving wildlife
(B) imply that many people do not
believe that hunting is humane
(C) show that pintail ducks can
travel to far points of the globe
(D) explain how one duck was shot
in South America
(E) advise people to be very careful
when they hunt all wildlife, but
most especially endangered
species
19. According to the information in the
second paragraph, the hunters were
able to trace the origin of their birds
because
(A) the hunters knew about the Fish
and Wildlife Service in
Washington, DC
(B) the ducks carried bands on their
legs that provided a way to get
information about them
(C) the hunters wrote letters to
Washington, DC
(D) the band number, species, date
of banding, place of banding,
and name of the bander are all a
matter of public record
(E) the birds’ origins were not a
mystery at all
20. Which of the following conclusions
can be drawn from the second
paragraph?
(A) Bird banding is expensive and
time-consuming.
(B) It takes a long time to get a reply
from the Fish and Wildlife
Service in Washington, DC.
(C) Some ducks have a small aluminum band on their leg.
(D) Bird banding is an easy way to
trace the paths of different kinds
of birds.
(E) All birds should be banded to
ensure their survival.
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Questions 21 to 28 are based on the following passage.
Millions of years ago, dinosaurs roamed the earth freely. About 65 million years ago, they all died out.
Few mysteries have been as baffling—and as compelling—as the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Here are
some of the latest theories.
1
5
10
15
Dinosaurs roamed the earth for nearly 150 million years; then they suddenly died out and became
extinct. No one knows exactly why. Paleontologists once thought that dinosaurs had such small,
inefficient brains that they were somehow responsible for their own dying out. Because dinosaur
remains have been found in so many different parts of the world, scientists have had a hard time
coming up with a single strong explanation for their sudden demise.
There are a lot of theories, however, and some of them are fantastic. Some observers, for example, have suggested that the dinosaurs vanished because of raids by extraterrestrial beings. Other
theories are more logical but still guesses. The dinosaurs could have died because of some mass disease. That seems unlikely, though, because of the way they were dispersed all over the world. Some
speculate that an exploding star bathed the earth in radiation, killing all the dinosaurs. This does
not explain why all the other creatures on earth survived. There is also a theory that dinosaurs disappeared because of overcrowding. One well-regarded theory concerns food sources. According to
this theory, the dinosaurs ate too many flowering plants and absorbed poisonous chemicals. Since
they did not have a well-developed sense of taste, the dinosaurs did not realize that they were eating
something that would harm them. These theories remain just that however—theories—because no
one to date has been able to prove any of them.
21. Who or what are paleontologists
(line 2)?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
A type of dinosaur
Extinct life forms
Dinosaur bones
A scientific theory that does not
have much credence
(E) Scientists who study extinct
forms of animal life
22. As used in line 4, the word remains
most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
leavings
skeletons
stay behind
cadavers
remnants
23. According to the information in the
first paragraph, what is one possible
cause for the dinosaurs’ disappearance?
(A) The paleontologists killed them.
(B) They were inefficient creatures
who did not use their food
sources wisely.
(C) They were unable to survive
because of their small brains.
(D) They were attacked by other,
more fierce, creatures.
(E) They lived in many different
parts of the world.
24. Which sentence best states the main
idea of the first paragraph?
(A) No one really knows why the
dinosaurs vanished.
(B) It is a real shame that we no
longer have dinosaurs to study.
(C) It is relatively easy to study
dinosaurs because so much is
already known about them and
they are found in so many places
around the world.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
(D) Paleontologists learn about vanished forms of animal life.
(E) Dinosaurs had such small brains
that they could not meet the
demands of a changing world.
25. By calling the theories “fantastic”
(line 6), the writer is suggesting that
on the whole these theories are
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
well deserving of merit
creative but unrealistic
totally unreasonable
wild and unproved
scholarly and authoritative
26. Which information in the second
paragraph can be verified by an outside source?
(A) Visitors from outside our solar
system killed off the dinosaurs.
(B) There are many theories that
attempt to explain the dinosaurs’
disappearance.
(C) The dinosaurs vanished because
of a plague.
(D) A star blew up and sent off radiation that killed all the
dinosaurs.
(E) The dinosaurs died off when
they ate the wrong food.
27. The description in the second
paragraph moves from
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
least logical to most logical
most logical to least logical
causes to effects
chronological order: most distant past to more recent events
(E) inductive to deductive reasoning
28. Which of the following choices can
be inferred from the information in
the second paragraph?
(A) Very soon, scientists will be able
to prove one or more of the theories about the dinosaurs’ disappearance.
(B) Most of the theories of the
dinosaurs’ disappearance are not
backed up by sufficient facts to
be convincing.
(C) The same exploding star that
killed off the dinosaurs also
killed off many early cave people.
(D) The disappearance of the
dinosaurs is one of the most
important problems facing scientists today and has great
impact on other research.
(E) The reason for the dinosaurs’
disappearance has puzzled many
scientists.
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
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SECTION 3
TIME—15 MINUTES; 12 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The two passages presented here are followed by questions
about their content. Answer the questions based on what is directly stated or
suggested in the passage. Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding
circle on your answer sheet.
Questions 1 to 12 are based on the following passages.
Both of the following passages concern World War II, 1939–1945. The first passage is excerpted from an
article on the events leading up to World War II. The second passage is a comment by Anne Frank. She
was the teenager whose diary of her experiences hidden in a secret annex during World War II became
famous after her death.
Passage 1
1
5
10
15
20
25
World War I (1914–1918) ended for Germany in total defeat. The German people were dissatisfied:
the peace treaty was a great humiliation, there was no money, no work and no hope of a better
future. In the chaotic 1920s, an unknown Austrian worked his way up to the position of “Fuhrer”
(leader) of an insignificant political party in Munich. His name was Adolf Hitler; the party called
itself the NSDAP and its followers were called “Nazis.” After an unsuccessful coup d’etat, Hitler was
put in a comfortable prison, where he wrote his plans for world domination in a book called Mein
Kampf (My Struggle). Hitler said that the German people were “Aryans,” the strongest and best race.
All other races were inferior, especially the Jews, whom he blamed for everything that was wrong
and for all Germany’s defeats.
Hitler’s ideas appealed to many Germans and the NSDAP soon became powerful. In 1933, Hitler
was appointed Chancellor of Germany and, within a year, consolidated all power within his grasp.
The concentration camps filled up—first with political opponents, particularly Communists and
trade union leaders, but soon with Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals; in brief, everyone who disagreed
with him or whom he regarded as inferior. The Nazi oppression of the Jews was marked by two significant events: The Nuremberg Laws and the Wannsee Conference.
The Nuremberg laws, passed in 1935, deprived Jews of citizenship. Jews were forbidden from
marrying non-Jews, working in the professions (including law, medicine, journalism, and teaching),
and using public transportation. Jews could not drive cars (even their own) or go to the movies or
theaters. At the Wannsee Conference, a top-level Nazi meeting in 1942, the “Final Solution of the
Jewish Question” was set into motion—the extermination of all Jews in Europe.
All of life in Germany from 1933 on was oriented towards preparation for war. Few people,
however, realized this. In September of 1939, World War II began with the invasion of Poland.
Between then and 1945, this war was to cost nearly 55 million people their lives. Between the
German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and the end of the war in Europe in May 1945,
Nazi Germany and its accomplices strove to murder every Jew under their domination. The Jews
were not the only victims of Hitler’s regime, but they were the only group that the Nazis sought to
destroy entirely.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Passage 2
30
I don’t believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone, are guilty of the war. Oh
no, the little man is just as guilty, otherwise the peoples of the world would have risen in revolt long
ago! There’s in people simply an urge to destroy, an urge to kill, to murder and rage, until all
mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been
built up, cultivated, and grown will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to
begin all over again.
—May 1944
1. The writer of passage 1 uses the
redundant phrase “total defeat”
(line 1) to
(A) imply that the Germans were
not at fault for losing World War
I
(B) infer that the Germans were
overpowered from the start
(C) emphasize the German feeling of
complete and utter disgrace after
their defeat
(D) hint that not all Germans felt the
same way about the debacle
(E) suggest the Germans deserved
their defeat in both World War I
and World War II
2. Why does the writer place the word
Fuhrer (line 3) in quotation marks?
(A) to draw attention to it
(B) to show it is a foreign word
(C) to comment ironically that
Hitler was no leader
(D) to make sure that people pronounce it correctly
(E) because it is deliberately misspelled for emphasis
3. From the details in the passage, what
can you infer was Hitler’s reason for
writing Mein Kampf, his plans for
world domination?
(A) He did not have enough to do in
jail.
(B) He always had literary aspirations and considered himself a
fine writer.
(C) He needed the money that the
publication would bring to
finance his political aspirations.
(D) He wanted to justify and legitimatize his strategy to the widest
possible audience.
(E) He had been asked to create the
plan by his political party.
4. According to passage 1, the Nazis
oppression of the Jews was marked by
all the following events except
(A) forbidding Jews from marrying
non-Jews
(B) depriving Jews of citizenship
(C) forbidding Jews from working as
teachers and from using public
transportation
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(D) blaming Jews for Germany’s
defeat in World War I
(E) forcing Jews to leave the country
5. Based on the details in passage 1, why
do you think Hitler’s ideas appealed
to many Germans?
(A) Hitler came from a welleducated, cultured family so he
attracted people looking for a
strong leader.
(B) The Germans were looking for
someone who could both find a
scapegoat for their humiliation
and improve economic conditions.
(C) Hitler was an outsider so he
could bring fresh, new ideas into
the country.
(D) The Germans were swayed by
the high quality of Hitler’s writing in Mein Kampf.
(E) Unlike other leaders of the time,
Hitler could carry through on
his promises.
6. Passage 1 is organized according to
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
chronological order
least-to-most important events
most-to-least important events
cause and effect
reasons and causes
7. In passage 2, the phrase “big men”
(line 28) is used to connote
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
powerful people
non-Jews
physically strong people
rulers removed from the action
expatriates living safely abroad
8. In passage 2, Anne Frank sees people
as
(A) very different, depending on
their economic status
(B) essentially kind, but misruled by
tyrants
(C) responsible for their own fate
(D) welcoming change as a way to
start anew
(E) helpless pawns on the world
stage
9. As used in line 32, the word disfigured
most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
misshapen
assassinated
handicapped
wounded
marred
10. These passages are similar in that
both
(A) were written by the same author
(B) describe the same event in world
history
(C) approach the topic from the
same point of view
(D) were written for the same audience and purpose
(E) have a marked bias
11. In what way is the tone of passage 2
different from the tone of passage 1?
(A) The tone of passage 2 is lighter
and less serious than the tone of
passage 1.
(B) The tone of passage 2 more serious than the tone of passage 1.
(C) The tone of passage 2 is less factual than the tone of passage 1.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
(D) The tone of passage 2 is more
sardonic and sarcastic than the
tone of passage 1.
(E) The tone of passage 2 is darker
and more pessimistic than the
neutral tone of passage 1.
12. What does the second passage add to
your understanding of the events
leading up to and culminating in
World War II in Europe?
(A) How all people reacted to these
events
(B) How these events affected one
individual
(C) Why these events mattered on
the world stage
(D) How these events affected the
oppressed Jews of Germany
(E) Ways to prevent future wars
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
SECTION 4
TIME—25 MINUTES; Essay
DIRECTIONS: Read the passage presented here and the assignment that
follows it. Then plan and write an essay that explains your ideas about the
topic. Remember to support your position with both reasons and examples to
make your ideas convincing to the reader.
Should fast-food franchises be allowed in schools? After all, many soda companies already pay a
great deal of money to be allowed to install soda machines in school. This money pays for muchneeded textbooks, school supplies, and repairs. On the other hand, fast food is greatly contributing
to the epidemic of obesity among America’s youth.
Assignment: Construct an argument explaining your position on this issue. As
you develop your argument, support your views with relevant reasons and
examples from your experiences, observations, and reading. To strengthen your
position, you might wish to consider alternative or opposing views.
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SECTION 5
TIME—25 MINUTES; 25 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences require you to identify errors in
grammar, usage, style, and mechanics. Not every sentence has an error, and no
sentence will have more than one error. Each sentence error, if there is one, is
underlined and lettered. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that
must be changed to make the sentence correct and blacken the corresponding
circle on your answer sheet. If there is no error, blacken circle E. Elements of
the sentence that are not underlined are not to be changed.
1. Some people claim this is the decade of fitness, but, in fact, at least
A
B
C
one-third of the American population are classified as obese. No error.
D
E
2. During the graduation ceremonies, the superintendent of schools told the
A
story of the desks and cites their cleaning as evidence of a new spirit of
B
C
responsibility among students. No error.
D
E
3. The twins are fond of peanuts and eating ice cream, but their parents are
A
B
loath to give the children snacks between meals. No error.
C
D
E
4. The real estate broker promised to notify my partner and I as soon as the
A
B
house was put up for sale so we could make any necessary repairs to the
C
D
structure. No error.
E
5. Either the witness or the defendant were lying, but the judge was unable to
A
B
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
determine which of the two men was committing perjury. No error.
C
D
E
6. A close friend of the family, the patient was referred to a psychologist
A
B
with several emotional problems to receive counseling. No error.
C
D
E
7. The speaker didn’t say nothing that the audience had not already
A
heard; as a result, the audience quickly lost interest in his speech and
B
C
began to talk among themselves. No error.
D
E
8. The Word workshop trains employees about maximizing skills to improve
A
B
employees’ productivity, the Internet training teaches employees
C
how to use the Internet for product searches and e-mail to worldwide
D
subscribers. No error.
E
9. The recipe was complex but is worth it because chicken and biscuits
A
B
made this way tastes more deliciously. No error.
C
D
E
10. The prominent lawyer won more awards than anyone at the ceremony,
A
which surprised her because she had long taken on unpopular cases
B
C
and defendants. No error.
D
E
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DIRECTIONS: In each of the following sentences, part or all of the sentence is
underlined. Each sentence is followed by five ways of phrasing the underlined
part. Choose the best version of the underlined portion of each sentence and
blacken the corresponding circle on your answer sheet. Choice A is always the
same as the underlined portion of the original sentence. Choose answer A if
you think the original sentence needs no revision.
11. There have been many controversial
World Series, but the most unique
one was certainly the thrown World
Series of 1919.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
most unique one
most one-of-a-kind
unique one
uniquest one
one that was the most unique
12. Derek Bickerton, a noted linguist,
described some of the best examples
of the innate formation of a grammar
system he noted that indentured
workers on plantations in the South
Pacific needed to communicate with
each other in order to carry out practical tasks.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
system he
system when he
system, he
system yet he
system; he
13. It was not until 1966 that an AfricanAmerican become the coach of a
major United States professional
sports team.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
become the coach
became the coach
coaching
were coaching
becoming the coach
14. According to the new personnel policy instituted this year, it is necessary
for all employees to select a health
plan.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
it is necessary for
it is required that
because it is necessary
since it is necessary
all employees must select a
health plan
15. Each morning when the guards
checked my shoulder bag and clanked
shut the iron door behind me, the old
convict in me rose up full of hatred
and rage for the guards, the walls, the
terrible indecency of the place.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
rose up
rosed up
rised up
risen up
rise up
16. A tornado can pick up a house and
drop it hundreds of feet away, these
are extremely dangerous storms.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
A tornado
When a tornado
If a tornado
Since a tornado
An tornado
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
17. The masters of the time were wary of
their laborers being able to communicate with each other formed mixed
groups of laborers who spoke different languages.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
other formed
other, formed
other they formed
other, so they formed
other so they have been forming
18. The candidate went to political rallies, spoke at meetings, and she shook
many hands.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
she shook many hands
was shaking many hands
had been shaking many hands
realized the importance of shaking hands
(E) shook many hands
19. The conference will provide training
to ensure that our employees are kept
abreast of the latest technology
advancements and is able to function
in the information age.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
and is able to
and was able to
is able to
and being able to
and are able to
20. Just before the trial was scheduled to
start, every one of the confessions
mysteriously vanished from the office
of the Illinois State Attorney.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
scheduled to start, the
scheduled to start the
scheduled to start—the
scheduled to start: the
scheduled to start; the
DIRECTIONS: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts
of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best
answers to the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular
sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and
word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and
ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions,
follow the conventions of standard written English. After you have chosen your
answer, fill in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
(1) A difficult time is had by many young people today finding careers that are both pleasurable
and profitable. (2) Since many large companies have reduced their staffs—a process called “downsizing”—there are fewer management and support jobs available. (3) When all the discipline of sticking it out in school yields an occupation they do not enjoy, they hold themselves to blame for not
feeling more self-confidence. (4) Consequently, they change careers after a few years. (5) They may
return to school for retraining or to learn new skills on their own. (6) Others stay with unsatisfactory jobs for much longer. (7) They look to community service, family, and hobbies for the satisfaction they don’t find in their jobs.
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21. In context, which is the best way to
revise and combine the underlined
portion of sentence 1 (reproduced
here)?
(1) A difficult time is had by many young people today finding careers that are both pleasurable and profitable.
(A) As it is now.
(B) Today, a difficult time is had by
many young people
(C) A difficult time is being had by
many young people today
(D) By many young people today, a
difficult time is being had
(E) Many young people today are
having a difficult time
22. Which sentence would be most
appropriate to follow sentence 2?
(A) They see their parents’ work as
more interesting and worthwhile.
(B) As a result, many young people
feel unhappy and dissatisfied
with the jobs they get.
(C) They suffer from a feeling of not
having made use of their opportunities.
(D) “If only I had what it takes,” says
a young shoe salesman, son of a
factory laborer, “then things
would have been different.”
(E) Few young people have a strong
work ethic, and this is evident by
their lack of effort in seeking
traditional jobs.
23. Which of the following best replaces
the word they in sentence 4?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
confident workers
downsized workers
some workers
students
well-paid workers
24. In context, which is the best version
of the underlined portions of sentences 4 and 5? (reproduced here)?
Consequently, they change careers after a few
years. They may return to school for retraining
or learn new skills on their own.
(A) As it is now.
(B) a few years, returning to school
for retraining or learning
(C) a few years they may return to
school for retraining or to learn
(D) a few years, they may return to
school for retraining or to learn
(E) a few years, yet they may return
to school for retraining or learn
25. Including a paragraph on which of
the following would most strengthen
the writer’s argument?
(A) Examples of young people who
cannot find profitable and
enjoyable careers
(B) A thorough discussion of budgeting, including examples of
budgets for young people
(C) A complete explanation of the
phenomenon of “downsizing”
(D) The importance of having discipline and earning good grades in
school
(E) A list of schools that offer
retraining
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Practice Test 1 Answer Key
Section 1
1. E. The correct sentence reads: “She delivered her speech with great verve, gesturing
flamboyantly with her hands and smiling broadly from her opening remarks to
her conclusion.” Since the speaker gestures flamboyantly with her hands and
smiles broadly from her opening remarks to her conclusion, she is very animated
and energized. Only choice E has this meaning.
2. E. The correct sentence reads: “They were capable and literate young women trained
for the variety of arduous and demanding tasks of farm life.” The word demanding is your clue: arduous means “strenuous or difficult.”
3. D. The correct sentence reads: “Their reading was extensive for they shared books
with one another, often smuggling copies into the factory, to their overseers’ dismay.” Their reading could be extensive (wide-ranging) because they shared
books. Their overseers would feel dismay (anxiety, fear) because time spent reading would not be time spent working. Overseers are not likely to experience
pleasure or satisfaction over an employee’s time spent reading, so choices B and
C cannot be correct.
4. C. The correct sentence reads: “Having once got hold, the determined wrestlers
never let go, but struggled and wrestled and rolled on the chips incessantly.” If
they never let go, they struggled without pause, which matches incessantly.
5. D. The correct sentence reads: “There were moments, indeed, when warm gushes of
pity swept away her instinctive resentment of his condition, when she still found
his old self in his eyes as they groped for each other through the dense medium
of his weakness.” Pity erases her anger and bitterness—her resentment.
6. A. The correct sentence reads: “Although the insurance salesperson appeared to be a
respectable business professional, she was really a miscreant.” The word although
is a contrast clue. The second half of the sentence will be the opposite of the first
half. Thus, even though the insurance salesperson appeared to be a respectable
business professional (something good), she was really a miscreant (a criminal or
an evil person, something bad).
7. A. The correct sentence reads: “If every one of us, in returning to our constituents,
were to report the objections he or she has, and endeavor to gain partisans in
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support of these objections, we might thereby lose all the salutary effects and
great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign nations from any
real or apparent unanimity.” Focus on the word support in the first clause. Every
person is trying to gain support for something. People who support you are partisans. Now look at the second part of this sentence beginning with “we might
thereby lose.” What we are losing is good effects. This is shown by the phrase
“great advantages.” Salutary means “beneficial.”
8. C. The correct sentence reads: “Despite the flawless calligraphy, I was unable to read
the letter since it was written in Hungarian.” The transition despite means “in
spite of.” Thus, in spite of the flawless calligraphy (handwriting), the speaker
could not read the letter since it was written in Hungarian. The word that means
“could not” is unable.
9. C. The correct sentence reads: “Leeza was not consistent in her approach to the situation, at once conscientious and frivolous.” Since Leeza is not consistent, the two
words must be antonyms (opposites). Of the word pairs given, only conscientious
(scrupulous, paying attention to details) and frivolous (lighthearted, careless) are
opposites.
10. E. The correct sentence reads: “Even though the legislation’s ostensible purpose was
to curtail false advertising, its tangible outcome was to abridge free speech.” The
subordinating conjunction even though tells you that the first clause will be the
opposite of the second clause. You can infer from context that the first half will
be positive and the second half negative. Therefore, even though the legislation’s
ostensible (apparent) purpose was to curtail (stop) false advertising, the opposite
took place—false advertising was not stopped. We see this in the conclusion: “its
tangible outcome was to abridge (diminish) free speech.”
11. E. The entire passage demonstrates how just one vote can and often does make a
difference in the outcome of an election.
12. A. The numbers “572 to 571” in line 3 serve to emphasize how close the outcome
was. Since we don’t know how many people live in the town, we cannot conclude
that few people exercise their right to vote (choice B). In fact, if the town has
only 1500 eligible voters, the turnout was quite robust. The number of votes does
not indicate that this particular election was significant or insignificant (choice
C). The numbers have nothing to do with the issue of Internet voting rather than
the use of paper ballots (choice D). Finally, the vote actually shows that the voters
decided that Emond was a better candidate than Nixon since Emond won the
election, so choice E cannot be valid.
13. C. Here’s the key sentence: “For if she had attended to her household affairs, and
such things as belong to women, and not gone out of her way and calling to
meddle in such things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, etc., she
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
had kept her wits, and might have improved them usefully and honorably.” From
this sentence, you can infer that the writer is vehemently opposed to educating
women. He believes that their minds are too weak to withstand the rigors of
education.
14. B. If the young wife had spent much time studying and had written many books,
diverse must mean “many.”
15. E. The young woman lost her wits (“her understanding and reason”) because she
spent too much time on education (“giving herself wholly to reading and writing,
and had written many books”) and too little time on her household duties. Her
breakdown could have been prevented, the author believes, “if she had attended
to her household affairs, and such things as belong to women.” You can figure out
when this was written by the date given in the headnote of the passage.
16. C. The phrase “the better to answer its end” in line 3 can best be interpreted to
mean better to serve its purpose. The word end is used here to mean “purpose”
or “means.” None of the other answer choices conveys this meaning.
17. D. The phrase “old fable” in line 4 refers to the belief that individuals possess only
certain talents. You can infer this from the first sentence in the second paragraph,
especially the last clause: “The old fable covers a doctrine ever new and sublime;
that there is One Man,—present to all particular men only partially, or through
one faculty; and that you must take the whole society to find the whole man.” If
you must consider everyone together to find the “whole man,” each individual
must have only certain abilities. Choice A (a legend about the naming of parts),
choice B (a myth about the beginning of the world), choice C (an allegory about
regeneration), and choice E (a parable concerning change and metamorphosis)
sound sufficiently mythlike to mislead casual readers, but none of these choices
expresses the correct meaning.
18. B. As used in context, the word faculty most nearly means “aptitude.” Look back at the
sentence: “The old fable covers a doctrine ever new and sublime; that there is One
Man,—present to all particular men only partially, or through one faculty . . .”
Substitute the word aptitude for faculty to verify meaning in context. While faculty
does mean a “department of learning” (choice A) and “staff” (choice E), those
meanings are not required by the context. As you read, be careful to define
multiple-meaning words correctly.
19. A. The phrase “But, unfortunately” in the second paragraph signals a transition to a
new idea. The conjunction but is always used to show contrast, as is the case here.
None of the other choices conveys this meaning.
20. C. The author suggests that society has destroyed humanity’s wholeness. This can
seen most clearly in the following excerpt: “The state of society is one in which
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the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many
walking monsters,—a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.”
None of the other choices shows the correct interpretation.
21. A. The writer uses the word ministry in relation to the planter to suggest the inherent holiness of farming. The writer suggests that all occupations have their own
divinity, but few of us are able to appreciate the dignity and holiness of our work.
22. C. The author’s thesis in the third paragraph is developed through a series of examples. These include the planter, tradesman, priest, attorney, mechanic, and sailor.
While the author does repeat key words (especially man and thinking), this is not
the way he develops his ideas. Comparison and contrast (choice B) is also a technique the author uses, but it is not the key method of development in this paragraph. Alliteration (choice D) is the repetition of initial consonants. It is not the
means of paragraph development in this instance. Aphorisms (choice E) are pithy
statements. Again, they are not the chief means of paragraph development here.
23. E. The tone of this essay is best described as neutral. This is another instance of
selecting the best choice. Despairing (choice A), fiery (choice B), soothing (choice
C), and angry (choice D) do not accurately reflect the tone.
24. B. The language of this essay is best described as “scholarly and elevated.” Note the
long, complex sentences and the sophisticated use of punctuation (especially
semicolons and dashes to show emphasis). This is the opposite of choice A. The
language is too straightforward to be accurately described as florid, (choice C).
Florid means “excessively ornate,” which is not the case here. The same is true of
choice D, biased. Since the author provides specific examples, the language cannot be described as vague and colorless (choice E).
Section 2
1. E. The correct sentence reads: “It was at this moment, as I stood there with the rifle
in my hand, that I first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the imperialistic
dominion of the East.” Something that is hollow is “futile.” Futile means “useless.”
2. C. The correct sentence reads: “Her unexpected demise, at first mistakenly diagnosed as due to a raging fever, was later ascribed to poison.” At first, people mistakenly thought the woman died from a fever. For a fever to kill someone, it must
be very strong or raging. The second half of the sentence shows a contrast: The
later diagnosis attributes her death to poison. Ascribed means the same as
“assigned or due to.”
3. E. The correct sentence reads: “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in
motionless water, and of that pallid hue.” She would have to be in the water—
submerged—to become bloated. Submerged is an easy word to figure out because
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
the prefix sub means “under.” Something held for a long time underwater would
be pallid or pale.
4. B. The correct sentence reads: “The pawnbroker’s widow was a garrulous old
woman who loved to gossip and hear herself talk.” Someone who “loved to gossip
and hear herself talk” is garrulous, or talkative. Choice D does not fit the context.
Someone who loved to talk can be kind or mean, so we cannot conclude that she
was vicious.
5. D. The correct sentence reads: “The caretaker did not know she was due in London
today (her call there had been planned as a surprise), so his negligence in the
manner of leaving this letter, leaving it to wait in the dusk and dust, annoyed
her.” Since the caretaker has left the letter “to wait in the dusk and dust,” he is
sloppy or not fulfilling his duties properly. People who act in this manner are
negligent or careless. Negligence is the proper form of the word to fit the context.
6. A. The correct sentence reads: “That is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read but cursorily, and some few to be read wholly and with diligence
and attention.” The clue word but shows that the books in the second phrase cannot be read the same way as the books in the first phrase. Since the books mentioned first are read “only in parts,” the second books must be read differently. The
word cursorily means that these books are read “superficially.” Books read cursorily
are skimmed. The last books must be read in a way different from the first two
types of books described. Since the first books are read in parts and the second
books are skimmed, the third type of books must be read in depth. The word
diligence describes this, as it means “with patience and close attention.”
7. C. The correct sentence reads: “Through one of the broken panes I heard rain
impinge upon the earth again and again, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the already sodden flower beds.” The phrase “again and again” is a synonym for incessant, which means “continual.” If the water has been coming down
in a steady stream, the flower beds must be waterlogged. The closest synonym for
waterlogged is sodden.
8. A. The correct sentence reads: “The timid student recoiled at the idea that he had to
give a speech in class.” A timid (shy) person would recoil (draw back, retreat)
from the idea of speaking in public.
9. C. The correct sentence reads: “Now and then we would see her standing motionless
in one of the downstairs windows like the carven torso of an idol in a niche,
looking or not looking at us, we could never tell which.” An idol is a figure that is
worshipped. Idols and similar statues are often placed in niches, corner or nooks.
Do not confuse idol (an icon) with idle (lazy). Choices D and E are incorrect
because people are not likely to make and display statues of ruffians (hoodlums)
and reprobates (scoundrels).
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10. E. The correct sentence reads: “A thin acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a wedding, with a silver hairbrush so tarnished that the monogrammed initials were obscured.” The air in a
tomb would be acrid or bitter from being confined for so long.
11. D. The use of the phrase “she alone” gives the reader an idea of Miss Nightingale’s
uniqueness. The first sentence reveals that she alone is responsible for the welfare
of the suffering.
12. A. Pernicious means “fatal or deadly.” Describing the influence of official etiquette as
pernicious reveals the author’s awareness of the dangers of red tape. The incident
concerning the delay in unpacking shirts already in the hospital shows the
author’s feelings about “red tape,” the official tendency to make things more difficult than they need be.
13. D. The description of the sick and wounded as “half-naked” and “shivering” serves
as contrast to bureaucratic lack of concern. The author underscores the same
point with the example of the shirts unreleased.
14. E. As used in this context, vain means “without any success.” This is shown by the
fact that “three weeks elapsed before the Government released the shipment” of
clothing for half-naked, shivering, sick, and wounded men.
15. D. The Purveyor seems concerned only with departmental procedure. That he could
stand by and watch people suffer shows this. The final incident is another example of his disregard for people’s suffering.
16. A. The tone of the phrase “departmental agony” is ironic. The department has no
agony, but the suffering men do. The author creates irony by contrasting the
clerk’s “agony” over having to forcibly open a government consignment to the
very real suffering of the men.
17. A. The answer is directly stated in the first sentence: “Three Pintail ducks from North
America were shot in widely separated places in far distant parts of the world.”
18. C. By describing the far-flung places the pintail ducks were shot, the writer shows
that pintail ducks can travel to far points of the globe. Although the other choices
may indeed be true, there is no support for them in the paragraph. Be careful not
to be lead astray by your own ideology.
19. B. The answer is in this sentence: “On the leg of each duck the hunter had found a
small aluminum band, which carried a number and a request that the finder of
the band report to the Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC, USA.” The
other choices are not possible without this first step. For example, the hunters
could not write letters to Washington, DC, unless the birds were banded. Thus,
choice C is incorrect.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
20. D. There is no support for choice A (Bird banding is expensive and timeconsuming) even though it may indeed be the case. The same is true for
choice B (It takes a long time to get a reply from the Fish and Wildlife Service in
Washington, DC.) Neither is there any textual support for choice E (All birds
should be banded to ensure their survival). Choice C (Some ducks have a small
aluminum band on their leg) is stated outright, so it’s not a conclusion you have
to reach.
21. E. You can infer from the context that paleontologists are scientists who study extinct
forms of animal life.
22. B. As used in this passage, the word remains most nearly means “skeletons.” A creature that has become extinct, as stated in the passage, is gone too long to be considered leavings (choice A), meaning “leftovers or refuse,” or cadavers (choice D),
meaning “a dead body or corpse.” Remnants (choice E) are “remainders or
residue.” The best choice is skeletons, the hard bony framework of an animal that
may be preserved for millions of years.
23. C. The answer is directly stated in the passage: “Paleontologists once thought that
dinosaurs had such small, inefficient brains that they were somehow responsible
for their own dying out.”
24. A. The main idea of the first paragraph is: No one really knows why the dinosaurs
vanished. You can infer this from the last sentence in the first paragraph: “. . .
scientists have had a hard time coming up with a single strong explanation for
their sudden demise.”
25. D. When the writer remarks that the theories are “fantastic,” the writer is suggesting
that the theories are wild and unproven. You can infer this from the different
details. They range from completely crackpot—the dinosaurs having vanished
because of raids by extraterrestrials—to plausible—food sources. Taking all these
theories together, they suggest a wide and wild range of theoretical ideas.
26. B. The only information in the second paragraph that can be verified by an outside
source is choice B. All the other choices are theories that cannot be proven.
27. A. The writer presents the theories from least logical to most logical, moving from
outlandish theories about extraterrestrial beings to more believable theories
about food sources.
28. B. You can infer that choice B is correct from the last sentence in the passage.
Section 3
1. C. The writer of passage 1 uses the redundant phrase “total defeat” to emphasize the
German feeling of complete and utter disgrace after Germany was defeated. The
adjective total shows how completely the German war machine was destroyed.
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2. B. The writer places the word Fuhrer in quotation marks to show it is a foreign
word. This is a common rhetorical strategy to set off unfamiliar terms or to
emphasize important words and phrases.
3. D. Readers can infer that Hitler wrote Mein Kampf to justify and legitimatize his
strategy. The context clues are evident: as “an unknown Austrian” who “worked
his way up to the position of leader of an insignificant political party in Munich,”
he would want to defend and explain his plans. This would also attract more followers, vital if he was to succeed.
4. E. The Nazis oppression of the Jews was marked by all the following events except
forcing Jews to leave the country. There is no support for this detail in the passage. Remember, use the information in the passage—not what you may already
know about the subject—to answer the questions.
5. B. You can conclude that Hitler’s ideas appealed to many Germans because they
were looking for someone to use as a scapegoat for their humiliation and they
needed to improve economic conditions. You can draw this conclusion from the
sentence: “The German people were dissatisfied: the peace treaty was a great
humiliation, there was no money, no work and no hope of a better future.” There
is no support for any of the other choices.
6. A. The first passage is organized according to chronological order, the order of time.
The author tracks events from World War I (1914–1918) to the end of World
War II (1945). These events are presented in the order in which they occurred, as
the dates in the passage show.
7. A. The “big men” are those in power, the leaders of governments and industries. You
can infer this from the way Anne Frank contrasts the big men—the politicians
and the capitalists—to the little men—the everyday men and women who toil at
ordinary jobs.
8. C. In passage 2, Anne Frank sees people as responsible for their own fate. You can
infer this from her statements about people having an inherent “urge to destroy,
an urge to kill, to murder and rage.” People have this urge and also have the
power to fight it. Thus, they control their own actions.
9. E. As used in passage 2, the word disfigured most nearly means “marred” (spoiled or
damaged). You can immediately eliminate choice B because the word assassinated
is reserved for the death of high-born or important people. None of the other
choices fits the context.
10. B. These passages are similar in that both describe the same event in world history—World War II. You can eliminate choice A—were written by the same
author—because the headnote explains that this is not the case. You can eliminate choice C—approach the topic from the same point of view—because pas-
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
sage 1 is from the third-person point of view and passage 2 is from the firstperson point of view. You can eliminate choice D—were written for the same
audience and purpose—because the headnote explains that passage 1 is part of
an article, while passage 2 is part of a diary. Choice E is not true because
passage 1 is relatively neutral.
11. E. The tone of passage 2 is darker and more pessimistic than the neutral tone of
passage 1. You can infer this from the following phrase in passage 2: “an urge to
destroy, an urge to kill, to murder and rage.” Choice C (The tone of passage 2 is
less factual than the tone of passage 1) is wrong because a tone cannot be
factual.
12. B. The second passage shows how the events leading up to and culminating in
World War II in Europe affected one individual. Choice A is wrong because the
passage shows only the reaction of one person, Anne Frank. There is no support
for any other choices.
Section 4
Should fast-food franchises be allowed in schools? After all, many soda companies already
pay a great deal of money to be allowed to install soda machines in school. This money pays
for much-needed textbooks, school supplies, and repairs. On the other hand, fast food is
greatly contributing to the epidemic of obesity among America’s youth.
Assignment: Construct an argument explaining your position on this issue. As
you develop your argument, support your views with relevant reasons and
examples from your experiences, observations, and reading. To strengthen your
position, you might wish to consider alternative or opposing views.
The following model essay would receive a 6, the highest score, for its specific details, organization, and style (appropriate word choice, sentence structure, and consistent facility in use of language). It is an especially intelligent and insightful response.
Every student has heard of “mystery meat,” that puzzling gray staple of school cafeteria
lunches. Students fear and shun mystery meat—with good cause—so it usually gets
dumped in the trash. Unfortunately, vegetables, fruits, and juices follow suit, as kids crave
burgers, fries, and shakes. Since so much food is wasted, why not give kids what they want
to eat in the first place?
Soda companies have already insinuated themselves into school cafeterias, successfully
marketing sugar-rich carbonated drinks to students. In many schools, students can’t buy
soda during the school day, but as soon as classes end, students flock to the soda
machines like lemmings to the sea. School districts don’t complain about this arrangement because part of the profits from soda sales goes to pay for such “extras” as athletic
equipment, lighting, scoreboards, and field trips. But even if the district does not need
the money generated from soda machines to fund “extras,” soda companies and other
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fast-food franchises should be able to sell their products in schools to fund essential items
such as textbooks, field trips, and school repairs. Further, students should have the right
to get the foods and carbonated drinks they want, rather than being forced to eat vile
“mystery meat.”
On the other hand, U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher claims that some 300,000 children a year die from illnesses related to obesity. To help kids eat healthful food, Satcher
has called for the removal of fast food from schools. Of course, fast foods aren’t the only
cause of obesity, but these foods are one of the main reasons why Americans are the fattest people on earth. We are fast becoming the least healthy people, too, succumbing to
diseases linked to being overweight, such as heart disease and diabetes. Schools should be
teaching students the advantages of eating fruits, vegetables, and broiled rather than fried
meats.
Fast-food franchises should be allowed in schools only if they sell healthful food. Some
possibilities include juices (currently sold at nearly all fast-food chains), BK Broilers, and
McDonald’s salads. A change in menu would help schools raise much-needed funds as well
as teach students healthy eating habits.
Section 5
1. D. The error here is in agreement of subject and verb. Remember that a singular
subject requires a singular verb. The singular subject one-third requires the singular form of to be, is.
2. B. The error occurs in verb tense. Tenses must be consistent and logical throughout
a sentence and a passage. Here, the sentence begins in the past tense (told) and so
must continue in the same tense. The word cites switches to the present tense.
Choice D is correct because we use among when three or more people share
something and between when two people share something.
3. A. This is a parallel structure question: The phrase “eating ice cream” does not parallel the phrase “are fond of peanuts.” The corrected sentence reads: “The twins
are fond of peanuts and ice cream, but their parents are loath to give the children
snacks between meals.”
4. B. This is a question on pronoun case. Pronouns in English have three cases: nominative, objective, and possessive.
• Use the nominative case to show the subject of a verb.
Example: We spoke to the agent about the deal.
• Use the objective case to show the noun or pronoun receiving the action.
Example: The agent was willing to speak to us.
• Use the possessive case to show ownership.
Example: The agent gave us his advice.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
The following box shows the three cases.
Nominative
(Pronoun as subject)
Objective
(Pronoun as objective)
Possessive
(Ownership)
I
you
he
she
it
we
they
who
whoever
me
you
him
her
it
us
them
whom
whomever
my, mine
your, yours
his
her, hers
its
our, ours
their, theirs
whose
whoever
In this sentence, me (together with my partner) is the object of the infinitive to
notify. Therefore, the pronoun must be in the objective case. The corrected sentence reads: “The real estate broker promised to notify my partner and me as
soon as the house was put up for sale so we could make any necessary repairs
to the structure.”
5. A. This is a question on subject-verb agreement. Singular subjects connected by
either . . . or (neither . . . nor, not only . . . but also) require a singular verb. The
singular subject witness and the singular subject defendant require the singular
verb was, not the plural verb were.
6. C. As written, this sentence contains a misplaced modifier, a phrase, clause, or word
placed too far from the word or words it modifies (describes.) The misplaced
modifier “with several emotional problems” implies that the psychologist has
emotional problems, not the patient. The correct sentence reads: “A close friend
of the family, the patient with several emotional problems was referred to a psychologist to receive counseling.”
7. A. The error in this sentence is a double negative: n’t in didn’t and nothing. The correct sentence reads: “The speaker didn’t say anything that the audience had not
already heard; as a result, the audience quickly lost interest in his speech and
began to talk among themselves.” or “The speaker said nothing that the audience
had not already heard; as a result, the audience quickly lost interest in his speech
and began to talk among themselves.”
8. C. This is a comma splice, two independent clauses (complete sentences) run
together with only a comma to separate them. Two complete sentences cannot be
joined with only a comma; they require a semicolon or a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). One possible correct revision of the sentence
reads: “The Word workshop trains employees about maximizing skills to improve
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employees’ productivity, while the Internet training teaches employees how to use
the Internet for product searches and e-mail to worldwide subscribers.”
9. D. Use an adjective (delicious) rather than an adverb (deliciously) after a linking verb
(tastes). The correct sentence reads: “The recipe was complex but is worth it
because chicken and biscuits made this way tastes more delicious.”
10. A. The error here is an illogical comparison. Since the thing you are comparing is
part of a group, you have to differentiate it from the group first by using the
word other or else. The corrected sentence reads: “The prominent lawyer won
more awards than anyone else at the ceremony, which surprised her because she
had long taken on unpopular cases and defendants.”
11. C. Since unique is already in superlative degree, it cannot be further modified.
12. B. As written, this is a run-on sentence. Choice B corrects the error by creating a
subordinate clause with the subordinating conjunction when. Choice C is still a
run-on sentence. Choice D does not make logical sense, because the conjunction
yet does not fit into this context. Choice E is technically correct, since you can use
a semicolon to join two independent clauses. However, the conjunction in choice
B is better because it serves to link ideas logically. The correct sentence reads:
“Derek Bickerton, a noted linguist, described some of the best examples of the
innate formation of a grammar system when he noted that indentured workers
on plantations in the South Pacific needed to communicate with each other in
order to carry out practical tasks.”
13. B. The past tense became is required to show that the action has already taken place.
Choices C (coaching) and D (were coaching) introduce new errors.
14. E. Choice E is the best answer because it eliminates unnecessary words. Choices C
and D create sentence fragments. The correct sentence reads: “According to the
new personnel policy instituted this year, all employees must select a health plan.”
15. A. This is a question on using the correct form of the verb in the past tense, as
required by the sentence. Rose is the correct past tense of to rise. The correct sentence reads: “Each morning when the guards checked my shoulder bag and
clanked shut the iron door behind me, the old convict in me rose up full of
hatred and rage for the guards, the walls, the terrible indecency of the place.”
16. D. As written, this sentence is not complete. The first group of words—“A tornado
can pick up a house and drop it hundreds of feet away”—must be subordinated
to the main clause—“these are extremely dangerous storms.” Since is the most
logical subordinating conjunction in context. The corrected sentence reads:
“Since a tornado can pick up a house and drop it hundreds of feet away, these are
extremely dangerous storms.”
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
17. D. As written, this is a fragment, since it is missing a subject. Choice B creates a
comma splice. Choice C adds the subject, but, without the coordinating conjunction (so), it is a run-on sentence. Choice D correctly adds the subject (they) and
the correct form of the verb. Choice E has the wrong form of the verb. The correct sentence reads: “The masters of the time were wary of their laborers being
able to communicate with each other, so they formed mixed groups of laborers
who spoke different languages.”
18. E. This is a question on parallel structure. The phrase “shook many hands” parallels
“went to political rallies” and “spoke at meetings.” The correct sentence reads:
“The candidate went to political rallies, spoke at meetings, and shook many
hands.”
19. E. The question tests subject-verb agreement. The word employees is plural, so it
requires the plural verb are. The correct sentence reads: “The conference will provide training to ensure that our employees are kept abreast of the latest technology advancements and are able to function in the information age.”
20. A. This sentence is correct as written. Use a comma after an introductory subordinate clause, as shown.
21. E. Recast the sentence into the active voice so the subject is doing the action. This
makes the sentence more direct and less awkward. The revised sentence reads:
“Many young people today are having a difficult time finding careers that are
both pleasurable and profitable.”
22. B. The previous sentence reads: “Since many large companies have reduced their
staffs—a process called “downsizing”—there are fewer management and support
jobs available.” The next sentence shows what happens because there are fewer
jobs to be had: “As a result, many young people feel unhappy and dissatisfied
with the jobs they get.” The transition “As a result” helps link ideas and show
cause and effect.
23. C. The pronoun they refers to some dissatisfied workers. The revised sentence reads:
“Consequently, some workers change careers after a few years and make a fresh
start.”
24. B. The revised sentence reads: “Consequently, they change careers after a few years,
returning to school for retraining or learning new skills on their own.” This version maintains parallel structure in the phrases “returning to school” and “learning new skills.” It also correctly subordinates the dependent clause (“returning to
school for retraining or learning new skills on their own”) to the main clause
(“they change careers after a few years.”) Choice C is a run-on sentence; choice D
is a comma splice. Choice E is illogical because the coordinating conjunction
(yet) does not make sense in context.
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25. A. To strengthen the thesis that today young people have a difficult time finding
lucrative and enjoyable careers, the writer could give specific examples of recent
college graduates who did not manage to secure jobs. As this passage stands, it
does not contain any specific examples that support the thesis. The passage does
not have anything to do with budgeting, (so choice B) is weak. Downsizing
(choice C) is a minor detail that does not require amplification. Since the writer
argues that “the discipline of sticking it out in school” does not always lead to an
enjoyable occupation, choice D would not strengthen the thesis. Finally, choice E
is a minor detail that does not require amplification.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Practice Test 2
SECTION 1
TIME 25—MINUTES; 24 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences have one or two blanks, each of which
indicates a missing word. Beneath each sentence are five words or pairs of
words. Choose the word or pair of words which, when inserted in the sentence,
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Indicate your answer by filling
in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
1. After an unsuccessful day spent seeking work, I returned to the cellar of
the old building which our poverty
compelled us to ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
inhabit
inhibit
vacate
desert
hobbit
2. The ——— boxer withstood the
most punishing blows imaginable;
the audience thought he would fall,
but he did not even ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
stalwart stand
fragile, rise
impotent, spring up
strapping, recant
robust, stumble
3. Even though the acrobat knew he
might injure himself performing the
unfamiliar stunt, with a show of
———, he tried it anyway.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
timidity
bravado
pusillanimity
intelligence
affectation
4. The electorate was so ——— that
voter turnout was the lowest in the
decade.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
apathetic
neurotic
indolent
shiftless
crafty
5. The mourners set up a chorus of
———, their ——— cries echoing
throughout the cathedral.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
merriment, morose
wailing, buoyant
lamentations, mournful
sobbing, cheerful
jubilation, melancholy
6. The candidate had a blameless record
and an ——— home life: in short,
there was nothing embarrassing in
her past.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
imaginary
actual
abundant
exemplary
opulent
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7. After the new highway was built, traffic no longer passed through the old
farmland with its ——— buildings
and rusted tractors, the entire scene
like a gaping sore.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
dilapidated
flourishing
picturesque
thrifty
quaint
8. The guilty robber tried to ———
their suspicions with many sincere
accounts of his innocence, but the
police were not ——— and arrested
him anyway.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
alleviate, botched
augment, cozened
assuage, blundered
magnify, mislead
allay, deceived
9. The young girl, ——— and shy, was
nonetheless welcomed in the community and made to feel ———.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
gregarious, ostracized
demure, comfortable
loquacious, honored
garrulous, revered
awkward, disenfranchised
10. The ——— local businessman was so
concerned about maintaining his
blameless reputation that he steered
clear of any potentially controversial
topics, no matter how ——— they
really were.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
celebrated, contentious
eminent, disputed
conniving, harmless
prominent, innocuous
mendacious, spurious
DIRECTIONS: Each of the following passages is followed by one or more
questions. Answer the questions based on what is directly stated or suggested
in each passage. Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding circle on
your answer sheet.
Questions 11 to 13 are based on the following passage.
Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reported that two-thirds of its holdings in the
West were in poor or unsatisfactory condition. The following passage describes this situation.
1
5
Damage to rangeland is only one measure of the destructiveness of current grazing patterns.
Forests also suffer from livestock production, as branches are cut for fodder or entire stands are leveled to make way for pastures. The roster of impacts from forest clearing includes the loss of watershed protection, loss of plant and animal species, and on a larger scale, substantial contributions of
the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Latin America has suffered the most dramatic
forest loss due to inappropriate livestock production. Since 1970, farmers and ranchers have converted more than 20 million hectares of the region’s moist tropical forests to cattle pasture.
Although the environmental status of drier rangeland may defy simple quantification, there is
little debate that degradation is occurring in environments where rainfall is more plentiful and reg-
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
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ular. Ranchers commonly overstock their land with cattle, leading to weed invasion and erosion. In
the savannas of northern and central Mexico, livestock are stocked at nearly four times the land’s
carrying capacity. And wealthy nations are not immune from the effects of overgrazing on rangeland. Spain and Portugal still bear the scars of pro-sheep land policies that began hundreds of years
ago. The western United States is likewise left with a sad legacy: The great cattle boom of the last
century annihilated native mixed-grass ecosystems. And unsustainable practices—including overstocking and grazing cattle for too long in the same place—continue on much of the 110-millionhectare area of public land the federal government leases to ranchers.
11. Damage to rangeland is caused by all
the following except
(A) increasing the greenhouse effect
(B) losing plant and animal species
(C) building too many homes and
office buildings on land formerly
set aside for pasture
(D) mowing down acres of trees to
create new pastures and cutting
branches to use as cattle fodder
(E) using detrimental pasturing
methods
12. The word immune (line 12) is used to
mean
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
exempt
responsible
liable
accountable
sickened
13. The writer’s purpose is most likely to
(A) convince people to leave the big
cities and become ranchers
(B) describe a problem that affects
third-world nations far more
than it affects developed industrial nations
(C) force the government to stop
leasing public land to ranchers
until the situation with poor
grazing practices is resolved
(D) alert people to a serious problem
and press for change
(E) show that this problem affects
only grazing land in Europe, not
the United States
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Questions 14 to 24 are based on the following passage.
Do people have to travel around the world—or even leave their hometowns—to become well-educated?
What benefits (if any) does travel confer? American Transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson
ponders this question in the following passage.
1
5
10
15
It is for want of self-culture that the superstition of Traveling, whose idols are Italy, England, Egypt,
retains its fascination for all educated Americans. They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable
in the imagination, did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth. In manly hours we
feel that duty is our place. The soul is no traveler; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his house, or into foreign lands, he is at home still and
shall make men sensible by the expression of his countenance that he goes, the missionary of wisdom
and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign and not like an interloper or a valet.
I have no churlish objection to the circumnavigation of the globe for the purposes of art, of
study, and benevolence, so that the man is first domesticated, or does not go abroad with the hope of
finding somewhat greater than he knows. He who travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he
does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows old even in youth among old things. In Thebes,
in Palmyra, his will and mind have become old and dilapidated as they. He carries ruins to ruins.
Traveling is a fool’s paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home
I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty and lose my sadness. I pack my
trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is
the same sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican and the palaces. I affect
to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me
wherever I go.
14. What purpose does the following
sentence serve: “They who made
England, Italy, or Greece venerable in
the imagination, did so by sticking
fast where they were, like an axis of
the earth.” (lines 2–3)?
(A) It introduces the essential conflict in the essay.
(B) It underscores the immaturity of
Europeans when compared to
the sophistication of Americans.
(C) It berates people who choose to
visit Europe before they tour
America.
(D) It unifies the essay’s imagery.
(E) It conveys the impression that
the world revolves around
Europe rather than America.
15. At the end of the last sentence of the
first paragraph (lines 4–7), the writer
compares someone who travels for
the wrong reasons to a
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
great ruler
weak monarch
statue
servant
brave and masculine traveler
16. In line 8, churlish most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
cantankerous
intelligent
logical
defensible
twisted
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
17. As used in line 9, domesticated means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
trained
educated and well-informed
subdued
tame
well-mannered
18. The phrase “He carries ruins to
ruins” in line 12 refers to
(A) stealing valuable artifacts from
foreign countries and smuggling
them to America
(B) elderly people traveling to dangerous old cities
(C) traveling too much, which will
result in premature aging
(D) traveling for the wrong reasons,
which will deplete your sense of
purpose and intelligence
(E) ruining the trip for others by
traveling for selfish reasons
19. The writer believes that travel
(A) provides a unique educational
opportunity for people of all
ages, but especially to the mature
and seasoned individual
(B) is too expensive to be undertaken without great thought
(C) can bridge the gap between the
“haves” and the “have-nots”
(D) enables people to run away from
themselves and their inner lives
(E) enriches our soul by giving us a
wider view of people who are
different from us
20. The writer’s topics and themes
include all the following except
(A) knowledge and wisdom
(B) cultural appreciation
(C) self-awareness
(D) spiritual growth
(E) nature and the natural world
21. The writer of this essay would be least
likely to
(A) take a year-long tour of Europe
for pleasure and diversion
(B) stay home during his annual
vacation to write and study
(C) travel to a foreign land to help
the victims of a terrible natural
tragedy such as an earthquake or
flood
(D) engage in contemplation and
introspection
(E) encourage a young person to
study abroad
22. Who or what is the “giant” of the last
sentence?
(A) people who travel too much
(B) the self that is unable to find
beauty at home and cannot be
affected by the simple experiences of daily life
(C) our conscience
(D) the guilt we carry as citizens of
the richest nation on the Earth
(E) depression
23. The writer uses the word affect in
line 16 to mean
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
pretend
effect
impress
confirm
prove to be
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24. Which of the following statements
best summarizes the writer’s theme?
(A) There’s no substitute for seeing
the world.
(B) Travel is wasted on the young,
because they are too callow to
appreciate the wonders they see.
(C) No matter where we travel, we
can never escape from ourselves.
(D) Travel is a delightful diversion
for people of all ages.
(E) Only the young should travel; it
is too dangerous for the elderly.
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
SECTION 2
TIME—25 MINUTES; 27 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences have one or two blanks, each of which
indicates a missing word. Beneath each sentence are five words or pairs of
words. Choose the word or pair of words which, when inserted in the sentence,
best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. Indicate your answers by
filling in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
1. Our regiment occupied a position
that was ———; a blunder now
meant sure destruction.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
minor
unrecognized
trivial
vital
petty
2. The foolproof poison was as colorless
as water, almost tasteless, quite
——— in coffee, milk, or any other
beverage; further it was ———
during an autopsy.
(A) imperceptible, untraceable
(B) indistinct, discernible
(C) vague, manifest
(D) apparent, conspicuous
(E) palpable, obvious
3. She had had one great disappointment in life, but we were never quite
sure what it was, since it was ———
to only in ——— and far-off looks,
and so we all felt that it was important that she never be let down again.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
referred, shouts
pointed, bellows
ascribed, clamor
alluded, whispers
attested, sinecures
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
4. Not wishing to marry, the girl discouraged the proposals of each young
man by ——— that each ———
should present her with his bank
statements.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
demanding, connoisseur
requiring, altruist
resisting, despot
refusing, autocrat
stipulating, suitor
5. Concentrating on the weeds, the
elderly lady seemed very intent and
———, as through she were in
another world.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
intimate
remote
immediate
venomous
amiable
6. In spite of our ———, Rita continued down the street and ——— the
odd-looking stranger, asking for
directions to the restaurant.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
qualms, ignored
contentment, accosted
suspicions, disregarded
misgivings, approached
mistrust, slighted
7. Although the town councilman had a
well-deserved reputation for ———,
at the information session that night
he was so ——— that everyone
received a great deal of information
about the proposed tax increase.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
taciturnity, quiet
reserve, voluble
verbosity, boorish
impertinence, churlish
reticence, mute
8. Someone who loves freedom has an
——— toward oppression and dictatorship.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
empathy
insight
understanding
antipathy
obstinacy
9. The ——— with which the flight
attendant soothed the passengers’
muttered concerns and calmed their
outright panic at the sudden acceleration showed her ——— and skill.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
expertise, compassion
aptness, cruelty
surfeit, insufficiency
deluge, equanimity
ability, savageness
10. The ——— of job opportunities in
the current job market ———
prospective employees from trying to
find a well-paying, secure job.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
profusion, deludes
excess, dismays
deficiency, helps
insufficiency, reassures
paucity, disheartens
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DIRECTIONS: Each passage is followed by questions. Answer the questions
based on what is directly stated or suggested in each passage. Indicate your
answer by filling in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
Questions 11 to 14 are based on the following passage.
What constitutes “good” food? The following passage discusses one overlooked fast food.
1
5
10
What could be easier than grabbing a juicy cheeseburger, a creamy thick shake, and a bag of salty
fries from a fast-food drive-in? It’s quick and it tastes great. These fast foods just seem to satisfy our
taste buds in ways that lettuce, tofu, and bean sprouts can’t. Unfortunately, in recent years
Americans have discovered that many of their favorite fast foods are empty calories with no nutrition. Cheeseburgers and fries are loaded with salt and fat; fried chicken can send more cholesterol
counts soaring. But what about people who just can’t make it through a week without some fast
food? Consider pizza. Although it is usually lumped together with all the other “fast foods”—
burgers, fried chicken, hot dogs, and fries, pizza is not the same as these foods. Pizza contains many
of the vitamins and minerals that we need. This is especially true when the pizza is made with fresh
ingredients: the crust provides us with carbohydrates, an excellent low-calorie source of energy; the
cheese and meat provide our bodies with the building blocks of protein; and the tomatoes, herbs,
onions, and garlic supply us with vitamins and minerals.
11. What is the topic of this passage?
(A) pizza’s relative nutritional value,
when compared to other
convenience foods
(B) the overall importance of good
nutrition
(C) fast foods
(D) the importance of eating well at
all times
(E) the importance of avoiding all
fast foods in favor of well-balanced, home-cooked meals
12. The writer interrupts the narrative
with the short sentence “Consider
pizza” (line 7) to
(A) make this sentence (and the idea
it represents) blend into the rest
of the passage smoothly
(B) underscore the fact that pizza is
a fast food, not a real meal
(C) emphasize pizza’s popularity
among health-conscious
Americans
(D) prepare readers for the ideas
about pizza that follow
(E) provide emphasis through
sentence variety
13. According to this passage, what have
many Americans learned recently?
(A) Pizza tastes better than other fast
foods.
(B) Fast foods have a lot of salt and
fat.
(C) Pizza costs less than other fast
foods.
(D) Many fast foods taste great.
(E) Convenience foods are rarely as
convenient as people assume.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
14. The implied main idea of this passage
is that
(A) people should stay away from all
junk food
(B) many fast foods are not good for
you
(C) pizza is healthier for you than
many people think
(D) pizza gives us carbohydrates for
energy
(E) people should not eat any fast
foods at all
Questions 15 to 18 are based on the following passage.
In the following passage, the author describes some different kinds of whales and their characteristics. The
passage focuses on smaller whales, called “dolphins” or “porpoises.”
1
5
10
15
There is a great deal of confusion over what the forty different species that belong to the family
Delphinidae are called. For example, is a small cetacean a “dolphin” or a “porpoise”? Some people
distinguish a dolphin as a cetacean having a snout or beak, while a porpoise usually refers to one
with a smoothly rounded forehead. The larger members of this porpoise and dolphin family are
called “whales,” but they nonetheless fit the same characteristics as their smaller relatives. The number of different names for these creatures reflects the confusion of long-ago sailors as they tried to
classify them. Unfortunately, identifying them in their home in the sea is not easy, for the main differences between members of the species is in their skeleton structure.
The size of the bottlenose dolphin varies considerably from place to place. The largest on record
are a 12.7 foot male from the Netherlands and a 10.6 foot female from the Bay of Biscay. The heaviest dolphin on record weighed in at 1,430 pounds. A newborn calf, in contrast, is 38.5 to 49.6 inches
long and weighs 20 to 25 pounds.
Bottlenose dolphins are mainly fish-eaters. In the wild, they feed on squid, shrimp, and a wide
variety of fishes. In some waters, the bottlenose have gotten in the habit of following shrimp boats,
eating what the shrimpers miss or throw away. They often hunt as a team, herding small fish ahead
of them and picking off the ones that don’t stay with the rest of the group. And they eat a lot! A
United Nations report claims that a group of dolphins off the California coast eats 300,000 tons of
anchovies each year, whereas commercial fishermen take only 110,000 tons.
15. The 40 different species that belong
to the family Delphinidae have been
referred to as all the following designations except
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
dolphin
porpoise
shrimpers
cetacean
whales
16. What is the main idea of the first
paragraph?
(A) People have trouble telling dolphins, porpoises, and whales
apart.
(B) People long ago thought that
dolphins were fish.
(C) Porpoises have smoothly
rounded foreheads.
(D) There are 117 different varieties
of cetaceans.
(E) Whales, which are very large, are
not very similar to their smaller
cousins, dolphins and porpoises.
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17. According to this passage, the largest
dolphin ever measured was
(A) a newborn calf
(B) female
(C) remarkably similar to smaller
whales
(D) from the Bay of Biscay
(E) from the Netherlands
18. As stated in the passage, some dolphins follow shrimp boats because
(A) dolphins like to eat anchovies
(B) this is a hunting technique they
use
(C) shrimpers make the dolphins
into pets
(D) dolphins eat a lot
(E) they pick up the shrimp that the
shrimp boats leave behind
DIRECTIONS: Each of the passages presented is followed by questions. Answer
the questions based on what is directly stated or suggested in the following
passage. Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding circle on your
answer sheet.
Questions 19 to 27 are based on the following passage.
The following essay concerns what would be necessary to create a perfect world. The author compares and
contrasts the current world to his vision of an ideal world.
1
5
10
15
Now, estimate how few of those who do work are occupied in essential trades. For, in a society
where we make money the standard of everything, it is necessary to practice many crafts which are
quite vain and superfluous, ministering only to luxury and licentiousness. Suppose the host of those
who now toil were distributed only over as few crafts as the few needs and conveniences demanded
by nature. In the great abundance of commodities which must then arise, the prices set on them
would be too low for the craftsmen to earn their livelihood by their work. But suppose all those fellows who are not busied with unprofitable crafts, as well as all the lazy and idle throng, any one of
whom now consumes as much of the fruits of other men’s labors as any two of the workingmen,
were all set to work and indeed to useful work. You can easily see how small an allowance of time
would be enough and to spare for the production of all that is required by necessity or comfort (or
even pleasure, provided it be genuine and natural). . . .
Now is not this an unjust and ungrateful commonwealth? It lavishes great regards on so-called
gentlefolk and banking goldsmiths and the rest of that kind, who are either idle or mere parasites
and purveyors of empty pleasures. On the contrary, it makes no benevolent provisions for farmers,
colliers, common laborers, carters, and carpenters without whom there would be no commonwealth
at all. After it has misused the labor of their prime and after they are weighted down with age and
disease and are in utter want, it forgets all their sleepless night and all the great benefits received at
their hands and most ungratefully requites them with a most miserable death.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
20
25
Yet when these evil men with insatiable greed have divided up among themselves all the goods
which would have been enough for all the people, how far they are from the happiness of the
Utopian commonwealth? In Utopia all greed for money was entirely removed with the use of money.
What a mass of trouble was then cut away! What a crop of crimes was then pulled up by the roots!
Who does not know that fraud, theft, rapine, quarrels, disorders, brawls, seditions, murders, treasons,
poisonings, which are avenged rather than restrained by daily executions, die out with the destruction of money? Who does not know that fear, anxiety, worries, toils, and sleepless nights will also perish at the same time as money? What is more, poverty, which alone money seems to make poor,
forthwith would itself dwindle and disappear if money were entirely done away with everywhere.
19. In the opening lines, the speaker is
critical of
(A) workingmen who do not suit
their abilities to their jobs
(B) the indolent upper classes
(C) unnatural pleasures and diversions
(D) essential trades
(E) our contempt for trades and elevation of the aristocracy
20. As used in line 3, licentiousness most
nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
a disregard for morals
extravagance
comfort
delicacy
self-denial
21. The phrase “any one of whom now
consumes as much of the fruits of
other men’s labors as any two of the
workingmen” (lines 7–8) refers to
which of the following?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
“the fruits of other men’s labors”
“all those fellows”
“unprofitable crafts”
“useful work”
“the lazy and idle throng”
22. The “unjust and ungrateful commonwealth” in line 12 refers to
(A) America
(B) the workingmen
(C) the vain and foolish upper
classes
(D) the current system of government
(E) the author’s proposed system of
government
23. The speaker’s bias in the second paragraph (lines 12–18) is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
toward the workingman
against the workingman
toward the commonwealth
toward banking goldsmiths
against age and disease
24. The tone of the last paragraph (lines
19–27) is best described as
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
passionate and critical
relaxed and self-assured
tentative
calm and dispassionate
violent
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25. With which of the following statements would the author most likely
agree?
(A) A penny saved is a penny
earned.
(B) Money is the root of all evil.
(C) Money makes the world go
‘round.
(D) You can’t win it if you’re not in it.
(E) Money is essential.
26. The author’s style is best described as
(D) informal and relaxed
(E) formal and elevated
27. Which is the best title for this
excerpt?
(A) Utopia
(B) The Collapse of the
Commonwealth
(C) Economics and the Common
Man
(D) The Rich versus the Poor
(E) Work and Play
(A) highly abstract
(B) objective
(C) highly allusive
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
SECTION 3
TIME—15 MINUTES; 14 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The two passages presented are followed by questions about
their content. Answer the questions based on what is directly stated or
suggested in the passages. Indicate your answer by filling in the corresponding
circle on your answer sheet.
Questions 1 to 14 are based on the following passages.
The topic of energy creation and consumption has become increasingly urgent, as utility rates continue to
increase exponentially. As consumers continue to demand more energy for their homes, cars, offices, and
recreational needs, it has become apparent that we must develop new ways to approach the generation
and use of fuels. The following two passages discuss the challenges we face powering our lives in the new
century. Each reading also offers some possible solutions.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Passage 1
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
America’s electric utilities are finding that helping their customers use energy more efficiently
can be a cost-effective and reliable alternative for meeting electricity demand growth. The opportunities for efficiency improvements are myriad and potential savings real, but customers and utilities
have been slow to invest in the most cost-effective energy-efficient technologies available.
The energy efficiency of today’s buildings and electric equipment and appliances falls far short
of what is technically available. This efficiency gap has been attributed to a variety of market, institutional, technical, and behavioral constraints. Electric utility energy-efficiency programs have great
potential to narrow this gap and achieve significant energy savings.
Utilities’ energy-efficiency programs promise savings for customers and utilities, profits for shareholders, improvements in industrial productivity, enhanced international competitiveness, and
reduced environmental impact. But along with opportunities, greater reliance on energy efficiency as
a resource to meet future electricity needs also entails risks—that efficient technologies will not perform as well as promised, that anticipated savings will not be truly cost effective in practice, and that
costs and benefits of energy-efficiency programs will not be shared equally among utility customers.
In 2002, utility power generation accounted for 39 percent of total primary energy use in the
United States, and electricity consumption is growing faster than overall use. Current growth forecasts range from 1 to 3.5 percent per year over the next decade. Meeting this new demand could
require construction of the equivalent of 50 to 220 new 1,000-megawatt power plants over 10 years.
The differences in estimated new capacity needs reflect hundreds of billions of dollars for utility
rate payers. Of course, prospective electricity demand growth rates are uncertain, adding to the risks
that utilities face in planning and building for the future.
Energy-efficiency advocates have long maintained that it can be cheaper for rate payers and better for the environment and society to save energy rather than build new power plants. This view is
now embraced by many utilities, regulators, shareholders, and customers and is already shaping our
future. With more than ten years of experience with utility energy-efficiency programs, initial
results are promising, but many uncertainties remain.
Efforts to harness the utility sector to achieve greater energy efficiency have focused on three
strategies. Demand-side management programs—utility-led efforts intended to affect the timing or
amount of customer energy use. Examples include rebates, loans, energy audits, utility installation
of efficiency equipment, and load-management programs.
Integrated resource planning—a technique used by utilities and regulators to develop flexible
plans for providing reliable and economical electricity supply through a process that explicitly compares supply- and demand-side resource options on a consistent basis and usually has opportunities
for public participation.
Regulatory incentives for investment in energy-saving technologies adopted to offset the bias
against energy-efficiency investments in traditional rate-making methods. Typically, utility profits have
been based on the total value of capital invested and the amount of power sold—creating a strong
financial disincentive against energy efficiency or other investments that could reduce power sales and
utility revenues. Examples include mechanisms decoupling utility revenues from power sales, cost
recovery or rate basing of efficiency program expenditures, and performance bonuses and penalties.
More than thirty states have adopted integrated resource planning and demand-side management programs, and programs are being developed rapidly in most of the remaining states.
Passage 2
1
To the Editor:
After reading your editorial about the need to add more lights in the local parks, schools, and shopping center parking lots, I’d like to shed a different type of light on this proposal. The majority of people
in the world enjoy the night-time environment without artificial lights. Consider nature’s illumination,
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15
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such as the magnificent Hale-Bopp comet. We didn’t need artificial light to see it. Remember how
romantic a stroll under the stars can be? It’s quite a bit nicer without glaring street lights. Surely our
children deserve to see stars at night from their homes, just as they can see trees and birds in the daytime. However, our ever-increasing use of outdoor lights in both cities and the countryside is destroying our ability to savor the natural wonders of the night, an immeasurable loss to our civilization.
Now, no one will dispute that outdoor lighting is vital around important street intersections to
make them more readily visible. However, it is a myth that more light reduces crime. Towns across
America that have reduced nighttime light—to increase crime or to save taxpayer money—report
that crime rates remained unchanged or actually decrease. Other studies note that bright security
lights can actually promote crime and be potentially dangerous to police officers, as criminals hide
in the shadows. Prison inmates convicted of breaking and entering rank large dogs, music, and the
appearance of having someone home as stronger deterrents than lighting to preventing crimes.
Then there is the cost. Our town has a population of around 25,000. Our annual street lighting
bill is more than $500,000! Major cities like New York, Miami, and Las Vegas spend tens of millions
of dollars every year on electricity to light their streets.
We might be better off with less artificial light at night rather than more. For example, we can
consider mandating that all sign lighting be recessed, shielded, and mounted at the top, pointing
downward and only on the sign; that closed businesses turn off all signage and parking-lot lighting
after a certain hour; that floodlights be banned unless they are shielded to avoid glare; and that
non-security lights around other public buildings be turned off after a certain hour. Further, we
should consider using different types of lighting. With the new energy-efficient sodium, metalhalide, and fluorescent lamps now available, one can generally get the same amount of light on the
ground simply by shielding a lamp that uses half (or even a third) of the electricity of older or existing unshielded lamps; these new lamps put out several times more light (lumens) per watt than did
older incandescent and mercury-vapor lamps, but power-utility companies are loathe to tell the taxpayer that they are so efficient, and they often replace 200-watt mercury-vapor lamps with 200-watt
metal-halide or HPS lamps, resulting in 2 to 8 times more light on the ground!
Simply installing more bright lights at night is unlikely to create any significant benefits. We deserve
an aethestically-pleasing night-time environment that includes the ability to see hundreds of stars.
1. According to passage 1, utilities have
not helped their customers maximize
savings because the utilities
(A) have not invested in new
technology
(B) are not willing to help customers
(C) are not aware of the new technologies available
(D) realize that power sources are
already as efficient as they can be
(E) are too large and cumbersome to
meet customers’ needs
2. As stated in passage 1, the chief cause
of the efficiency gap is
(A) efficient technologies do not
perform well
(B) potential savings are unrealistic
(C) disinterest on the part of
customers
(D) a combination of technical,
behavioral, market, and institutional constraints
(E) inept management
3. According to passage 1, energy-efficiency programs can realize savings for
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
customers but not utilities
utilities but not customers
shareholders only
no one, which is why they are
not worth the economic outlay
(E) customers, utilities, and shareholders
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
4. Among the risks the first author cites
for relying on greater energy efficiency are
(A) consumer distrust of new technologies
(B) concerns about equal distribution of profits
(C) fears that savings will not be real
(D) problems with the utility sector
itself
(E) worries that nuclear reactors are
not safe
5. What is the relationship of electricity
consumption to overall energy use,
according to passage 1?
(A) They are growing at the same
rate.
(B) Electricity consumption is growing more quickly.
(C) Electricity consumption is growing more slowly.
(D) No one has successfully determined the relationship between
electricity consumption and
overall energy use.
(E) There is no relationship at all.
6. According to passage 1, who will pay
for the construction of new power
plants to meet increased power needs?
(A) utility companies, rate payers,
and the federal government
(B) the state and federal governments
(C) foreign governments
(D) the state government
(E) utility users
7. According to passage 1, more and
more people are coming to believe
that
(A) we should conserve energy
rather than erect new power
plants
(B) the federal government should
step in and regulate the energy
industry
(C) wind and solar power are the
cheapest and safest way to generate power for the future
(D) energy efficiency is an unworkable plan
(E) nuclear power may not be the
safest power source, but it is certainly the least expensive
8. Which of the following programs is
most popular, as stated in passage 1?
(A) regulatory incentives
(B) integrated resource planning
and demand-side management
programs
(C) integrated resource planning
and regulatory incentives
(D) demand-side management
programs and regulatory
incentives
(E) rebate programs and voluntary
cutbacks
9. Passage 1 was most likely written by
(A) the speaker for a utility company
(B) a company bidding on a new
power plant
(C) a disgruntled rate payer
(D) a contented rate payer
(E) an unbiased observer
10. The word shed in line 3 of passage 2
is used to mean
(A) a small wooden hut
(B) cast off
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(C) shine
(D) hovel
(E) exfoliate
11. Why does the writer of passage 2
note in the beginning of lines 10–11
that “Now, no one will dispute that
outdoor lighting is vital around
important street intersections to
make them more readily visible”?
(A) You can infer that the writer sells
outdoor lighting.
(B) By acknowledging valid opposition early on, the writer
strengthens his or her argument
by gaining credibility.
(C) By presenting the other side,
the writer shows that the
opposing argument does not
have the slightest shred of
legitimacy.
(D) The writer was involved in a
minor car accident because of
insufficient street lighting.
(E) Showing the importance of
street lights demonstrates the
writer’s concern with keeping
kids safe.
12. Which of the following can you infer
from passage 2?
(A) The writer has studied this issue
very carefully and has a firm
grasp on the facts.
(B) This issue has made the front
pages in the local newspaper.
(C) The writer has gathered an
impressive array of experts to
support him or her.
(D) The writer detests all forms of
artificial illumination.
(E) The issue will likely be resolved
shortly, most probably to the
writer’s satisfaction.
13. Unlike passage 1, passage 2
(A) is written from the third-person
point of view
(B) is unbiased and does not argue a
point
(C) is unsupported by specific
evidence, such as facts and
examples
(D) is written from the first-person
point of view and has a strong
argument to propose
(E) has a malicious, almost spiteful
tone
14. The authors of these two passages
would most likely agree that
(A) the government must step in
and regulate utility prices
(B) taxpayers are clearly paying too
much for power
(C) people should rethink the way
they use energy
(D) ratepayers, not politicians, can
best decide the most effective
use of power
(E) since we are going to run out of
power sooner than we think, we
should use the power we have
wisely
If you finish before time is up, go over your work in this section only.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
SECTION 4
TIME—25 MINUTES; Essay
DIRECTIONS: Read the excerpt below and the assignment that follows it. Then
plan and write an essay that explains your ideas about the topic. Remember to
support your position with both reasons and examples to make your ideas
convincing to the reader.
A classic is a book that . . .
Assignment: Complete this statement with an example from literature, history,
or your own experience. Using the completed statement, write a well-organized
essay in which you explain what you think makes a book a “classic.”
SECTION 5
TIME—25 MINUTES; 25 Questions
DIRECTIONS: The following sentences require you to identify errors in
grammar, usage, style, and mechanics. Not every sentence has an error and no
sentence will have more than one error. Each sentence error, if there is one, is
underlined and lettered. If there is an error, select the one underlined part that
must be changed to make the sentence correct and blacken the corresponding
circle on your answer sheet. If there is no error, blacken circle E. Elements of
the sentence that are not underlined are not to be changed.
1. Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the more dramatic and famous of
A
B
all maritime disasters occurred, the sinking of the Titanic. No error.
C
D
E
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2. The new hotel is the most luxurious lodge ever built, with its
A
beautifully decorated rooms, glittering crystal chandeliers, and
B
C
food service that was elaborate. No error.
D
E
3. The color barrier that had keeped major league sports white-only
A
B
did not fall in baseball until 1947. No error
C
D
E
4. In 1850, twenty-one year old peddler Levi Strauss traveled from New York
A
B
to San Francisco to sell small items and canvas to the gold prospectors.
C
D
No error.
E
5. In 1968 and 1969, the NBA championship was won by the Celtics with
A
B
Russell as player-coach. No error.
C
D
E
6. It’s true that many overweight people claim to have an unbelievable large
A
B
C
capacity for food, but scientists have yet to locate a gene responsible for
D
appetite regulation. No error.
E
7. Today’s highly technological society had placed an overwhelming abundance
A
B
of pleasures at our fingertips. No error.
C
D
E
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
8. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the average Irish citizen planted
A
potatoes and eats about 10 pounds of potatoes a day—and little else.
B
C
D
No error.
E
9. Consider immigrants who come to this country with hardly nothing yet
A
B
succeed in learning English, obtaining jobs, and supporting their families.
C
D
No error.
E
DIRECTIONS: In each of the following sentences, part or all of the sentence is
underlined. Each sentence is followed by five ways of phrasing the underlined
part. Choose the best version of the underlined portion of each sentence and
blacken the corresponding circle on your answer sheet. Choice A is always the
same as the underlined portion of the original sentence. Choose answer A if
you think the original sentence needs no revision.
10. A temporary worker may be hired for
a week, a month, or a few months
there is no guarantee of continued
employment.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
months there
months, there
months; there
months, but
months for
11. A new language can come into being
as a pidgin, a pidgin is a makeshift
jargon containing words of various
languages and little in the way of
grammar.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
pidgin, a pidgin
pidgin a pidgin
pidgin,
pidgin, because it is
pidgin and it is a
12. Because I am interested in nutrition,
I am glad that Luis gave my sister and
I a year’s subscription to a health and
fitness magazine.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
my sister and I
me and my sister
I and my sister
we
my sister and me
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13. For this reason, very few people suspected the players had been bought;
nevertheless, the very next day a suggestion was made by sportswriter
Hugh Fullerton that something was
not legitimate.
(A) a suggestion was made by
sportswriter Hugh Fullerton
(B) sportswriter Hugh Fullerton
made a suggestion
(C) a suggestion was made by Hugh
Fullerton, a sportswriter
(D) a suggestion was being made by
sportswriter Hugh Fullerton
(E) a suggestion had been made by
sportswriter Hugh Fullerton
14. Our ancestors had to plant and were
cultivating their own foods, but since
we can just drive to the local supermarket or restaurant and pick what
we want, we often eat too much.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
were cultivating
to cultivate
cultivating
cultivated
had been cultivating
15. Being that the iceberg ruptured 5 of
the 16 watertight compartments, the
ship sunk into the icy waters of the
North Atlantic.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Being that
Being
If
Because
Yet
16. Rushing up the stairs of the museum,
the tomb of the Egyptian king was
seen, in all its awe-inspiring majesty.
(A) Rushing up the stairs of the
museum, the tomb of the
Egyptian king was seen
(B) Rushing up the stairs of the
museum, the tomb of the
Egyptian king was seen by us
(C) The tomb of the Egyptian king
was seen rushing up the stairs of
the museum,
(D) As we rushed up the stairs of the
museum, we saw the tomb of the
Egyptian king
(E) Rushing up the stairs of the
museum, the tomb of the
Egyptian king had been seen
17. It meant that the pig or cow that
would usually have been sold to pay
the rent had to be slaughtered there
was nothing to fatten it on.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
slaughtered
slaughtered, because
slaughtered,
slaughtered because
slaughtered, but
18. The captain caught sight of the iceberg passing by through the porthole,
but by then it was too late to alter the
course.
(A) The captain caught sight of the
iceberg passing by through the
porthole,
(B) As the captain passed through
the porthole, he caught sight of
the iceberg,
(C) Looking through the porthole,
the captain caught sight of the
iceberg passing by,
(D) The captain, through the porthole, caught sight of the iceberg
passing by,
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
(E) Passing by through the porthole,
the captain caught sight of the
iceberg,
19. When Europeans first settled in the
New World in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, they brought
their culinary heritage and their
recipes with them.
(A) they brought their culinary heritage and their recipes with them
(B) they bring their culinary heritage and their recipes with them
(C) their culinary heritage and their
recipes with them were brought
(D) they having brought their culinary heritage and their recipes
with them
(E) their culinary heritage and their
recipes with them they brought
with them
DIRECTIONS: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts
of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best
answers to the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular
sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and
word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and
ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions,
follow the conventions of standard written English. After you have chosen your
answer, fill in the corresponding circle on your answer sheet.
(1) Everyone is interested in solar energy now. (2) The reason is that the fuels we use are very
expensive, and the supply of these fuels is shrinking every day. (3) The cost of home heating oil, for
example, has gone up more than 50% in the past decade. (4) The figures are not much better for
natural gas and electric. (5) You should learn how the sun can provide heat for buildings. (6) There
are a few facts about your home’s heating system that you should know.
(7) Most houses and apartment buildings have a furnace that burns fuel and is the heat source
for the whole building. (8) A thermostat measures the room temperature and signals it to send
more or less heat.
20. In context, which is the best way to
revise and combine the underlined
portion of sentences 1 and 2 (reproduced here)?
Everyone is interested in solar energy now. The
reason is that the fuels we use are very expensive, and the supply of these fuels is shrinking
every day.
(A) As it is now.
(B) Everyone is interested in solar
energy now
(C) Everyone is interested in solar
energy now,
(D) Everyone is interested in solar
energy now because
(E) Everyone is interested in solar
energy now, being that
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21. Which sentence would be most
appropriate to follow sentence 4?
(A) As our oil and natural gas
reserves shrink further, the price
can only climb higher.
(B) Solar energy can also be used to
heat water and cook food.
(C) Most furnaces burn oil or natural gas to produce heat.
(D) Houses that don’t have furnaces
are usually heated with electricity.
(E) Nuclear energy carries risks, but
solar energy is safe.
22. In context, which is the best version
of the underlined portion of sentences 5 and 6 (reproduced here)?
You should learn how the sun can provide heat
for buildings. There are a few facts about your
home’s heating system that you should know.
(A) As it is now.
(B) Before you learn how the sun
can provide heat for buildings,
there are
(C) You should learn how the sun
can provide heat for buildings
there are
(D) Learning by you should occur
concerning how the sun can
provide heat for buildings
because there are
(E) You should learn how the sun
can be providing heat for buildings, so there are
23. Which of the following best replaces
the word It in sentence 8?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
the thermostat
the furnace
the house or apartment
the building
the temperature
24. Including a paragraph on which of
the following would most strengthen
the writer’s argument?
(A) the rising prices of fossil fuels
(B) the inevitable shortage of fossil
fuels
(C) the dangers of nuclear energy
(D) the advantages of solar energy
(E) the importance of conserving
energy
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Practice Test 2 Answer Key
Section 1
1. A. The correct sentence reads: “After an unsuccessful day spent seeking work,
I returned to the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to
inhabit.” None of the other words has the meaning required by the sentence: to
“occupy” or “live in.”
2. E. The correct sentence reads: “The robust boxer withstood the most punishing
blows imaginable; the audience thought he would fall, but he did not even stumble.” The robust boxer is so strong and healthy that he does not stumble even
under the strongest punches.
3. B. The correct sentence reads: “Even though the acrobat knew he might injure himself performing the unfamiliar stunt, with a show of bravado, he tried it anyway.”
Bravado means “pretense.” The acrobat is putting on a brave front, pretending
that he can do the stunt.
4. A. The correct sentence reads: “The electorate was so apathetic that the voter
turnout was the lowest in the decade.” When you feel apathetic about a person or
a situation, you do not care about it. If voters are apathetic or indifferent to candidates or issues, they are not likely to get out and cast their votes. As a result,
voter turnout will be low.
5. C. The correct sentence reads: “The mourners set up a chorus of lamentations, their
mournful cries echoing throughout the cathedral.” A lamentation is an expression
of sorrow, so it would be mournful, or sad.
6. D. The correct sentence reads: “The candidate had a blameless record and an exemplary home life: in short, there was nothing embarrassing in her past.” Exemplary
means “flawless, unblemished.”
7. A. The correct sentence reads: “After the new highway was built, traffic no longer
passed through the old farmland with its dilapidated buildings and rusted tractors, the entire scene like a gaping sore.” Dilapidated means “run down.” The sentence clue “rusted tractors” reveals that the farmland is in very bad repair.
Choices C and E both mean “attractive” rather than “shabby,” but “shabby” is the
meaning required by the sentence.
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8. E. The correct sentence reads: “The guilty robber tried to allay their suspicions with
many sincere accounts of his innocence, but the police were not deceived and
arrested him anyway.” To allay means “reduce” or “lessen.” Even though the robber tried to reassure the police that he was innocent, the police were not fooled
(deceived).
9. B. The correct sentence reads: “The young girl, demure and shy, was nonetheless
welcomed in the community and made to feel comfortable.” You can eliminate
choices A, C, and D based on the first blank. Gregarious means “outgoing”; loquacious and garrulous mean “talkative.” None of the other words makes sense with
shy. Disenfranchised (choice E) means “deprived of the right to vote.” Only choice
B offers words that make sense in both blanks. Even though the girl was modest
and shy, people made her feel welcome.
10. D. The correct sentence reads: “The prominent local businessman was so concerned
about maintaining his blameless reputation that he steered clear of any potentially controversial topics, no matter how innocuous they really were.” Someone
who is prominent is well-known, perhaps even famous. Innocuous means “harmless.” Thus, the well-known businessperson steers clear of even the most innocent
topics to avoid any controversy. You can eliminate choices C and E because
someone who is conniving (scheming) or mendacious (untruthful) would not
necessarily be concerned about maintaining a good reputation.
11. C. Damage to rangeland is caused by all the following except building too many
homes and office buildings on land formerly set aside for pasture. Every other
choice can be found in the passage. Choice A—increasing the greenhouse
effect—is found in the sentence: “The roster of impacts from forest clearing
includes . . . substantial contributions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere.” Choice B—losing plant and animal species—is found in the
same sentence: “The roster of impacts from forest clearing includes . . . loss of
plant and animal species.” Choice D—mowing down acres of trees to create new
pastures and cutting branches to use as cattle fodder—comes from the sentence:
“Forests also suffer from livestock production, as branches are cut for fodder or
entire stands are leveled to make way for pastures.” Choice E—using detrimental
pasturing methods—comes from the sentence: “Ranchers commonly overstock
their land with cattle, leading to weed invasion and erosion.”
12. A. The word immune (line 12) is used to mean “exempt.” This means that wealthy
nations are not excused from the effects of overgrazing on rangeland. You can
infer this from the sentences that follow: “Spain and Portugal still bear the scars
of pro-sheep land policies that began hundreds of years ago. The western United
States is likewise left with a sad legacy: The great cattle boom of the last century
annihilated native mixed-grass ecosystems.”
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
13. D. The writer’s purpose is most likely to alert people to a serious problem and press
for change. Choice C—force the government to stop leasing public land to
ranchers until the situation with poor grazing practices is resolved—is too specific. The writer does not propose any specific solution. Choices B and E cannot
be correct because the writer shows that the problem is worldwide and affects
wealthy nations as well as disadvantaged ones. There is no support for choice A:
convince people to leave the big cities to become ranchers.
14. E. The simile in this sentence serves to convey the impression that the world revolves
around Europe rather than America. This is conveyed through the phrase “like an
axis of the earth.” The simile does not introduce the essential conflict in the essay
(Choice A), because the essay does not have a conflict. A conflict in literature is a
“struggle” or “fight.” There are two kinds of conflict. In an external conflict, characters struggle against a force outside themselves. In an internal conflict, characters
battle a force within themselves. In this excerpt, Ralph Waldo Emerson is expressing his opinion on travel and trying to convince us that his point of view is correct
or at least deserves serious consideration. Choice B is wrong because neither the
simile nor the essay underscores the immaturity of Europeans when compared to
the sophistication of Americans. Indeed, the topic of immaturity never comes up.
Choice C is wrong because Emerson does not berate people who choose to visit
Europe before they tour America; rather, he believes that we should look into our
souls for enlightenment rather than seeking diversion through travel. Choice D is
wrong because this simile does not serve to unify the essay’s imagery.
15. D. At the end of the first paragraph, the writer compares someone who travels for
the wrong reasons to a servant. You can figure this out by knowing that a valet is
a “servant.” The information is found in the following line: “and visits cities and
men like a sovereign and not like an interloper or a valet.” Choice A (great ruler)
is a result of misreading “and visits cities and men like a sovereign and not like an
interloper or a valet.”
16. A. The word churlish in the phrase “I have no churlish objection” (the second paragraph) most nearly means “cantankerous.” “I have no churlish objection to the
circumnavigation of the globe for the purposes of art,” Emerson says, suggesting
that he is not being cranky in his objection.
17. B. The connotation of the word domesticated in the phrase “so that the man is first
domesticated” is “educated and well-informed.” This is a difficult question
because domesticated has several different meanings. Choices A and C are synonyms with the most common meaning, but not the one that fits the context.
Choice C does not make sense in context. Choice E is wrong because Emerson
does not discuss how Americans act when they travel abroad, only that such
travel rarely serves its purpose of enlightenment.
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18. D. The phrase “He carries ruins to ruins” in the second paragraph refers to traveling
for the wrong reasons, which will deplete your sense of purpose and intelligence.
A close reading of the passage reveals Emerson’s belief that someone who “travels
to be amused, or to get somewhat which he does not carry, travels away from
himself ” will find his soul grows weary through the useless search. The misguided traveler becomes a ruin visiting the ancient cities and monuments.
19. D. The writer believes that travel enables people to run away from themselves and
their inner lives. You can infer this from the passage in the second paragraph
cited in the answer to question 18 as well as from sentences such as this one:
“Traveling is a fool’s paradise.” Choice A is wrong because Emerson believes just
the opposite of this statement: Travel does not provide a unique educational
opportunity for people of all ages, but especially the mature and seasoned individual. The same is true for choice E, which is again the opposite of Emerson’s
thesis: Travel does not enrich our soul by giving us a wider view of people who
differ from us. Emerson never deals with the issue of cost, so choice B cannot be
correct. The same is true for Choice C.
20. E. The writer’s topics and themes include all the following except nature and the
natural world. Emerson treats knowledge and wisdom (choice A) at great length,
as shown in this quote: “. . . by the expression of his countenance that he goes, the
missionary of wisdom and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign and
not like an interloper or a valet.” He also discusses cultural appreciation (choice
B), revealed in this passage: “I have no churlish objection to the circumnavigation
of the globe for the purposes of art, of study, and benevolence.” The entire passage focuses on self-awareness (choice C) and spiritual growth (choice D) as
shown in the passages cited earlier in this explanation.
21. A. The writer of this essay would be least likely to take a year-long tour of Europe
for pleasure and diversion because that is precisely what he condemns. This is
evident in the following passage: “He who travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows old even in
youth among old things.” He is in favor of looking inward to find knowledge, so
choice B (stay home during his annual vacation to write and study) is wrong. He
would be in favor of traveling to a foreign land to help the victims of a terrible
natural tragedy such as an earthquake or flood, so choice C is wrong. This is
shown in the sentence “I have no churlish objection to the circumnavigation of
the globe for the purposes of art, of study, and benevolence” (lines 8–9). The
word contemplation shows that choice D (engage in contemplation and introspection) cannot be correct. The same is true for choice E, (encourage a young person
to study abroad), thanks to the prepositional phrase “of study” in lines 8–9.
22. B. The “giant” of the last sentence is the self that is unable to find beauty at home
and cannot be affected by the simple experiences of daily life. We carry this with
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
us always because it defines who we are. Since Emerson does not travel too much
(or at all, if he can avoid it), choice A, people who travel too much, cannot be correct. Choice C, our conscience, is close, but choice B is more precise. Since Emerson
does not discuss the unequal distribution of assets, choice D (the guilt we carry as
citizens of the richest nation on earth) cannot be correct. Choice E, depression, is
too big a leap, for we have no proof at all that he is depressed. On the contrary, he
seems quite content with his life of study and introspection at home.
23. A. The writer uses the word affect (line 16) to mean “pretend.” The writer pretends
to be overcome (intoxicated) with everything that he sees, but he is only making
believe. You can tell this from the word not in the second clause: “I am not intoxicated.”
24. C. The theme is best stated by choice C: No matter where we travel, we can never
escape from ourselves. You can see this especially in the last two lines: “I affect to be
intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes
with me wherever I go.” Choice A is wrong because is it the opposite of the writer’s
theme. The same is true of choice D. There is no support for choices B (Travel is
wasted on the young, because they are too callow to appreciate the wonders they
see) and E (Only the young should travel; it is too dangerous for the elderly).
Section 2
1. D. The completed sentence reads: “Our regiment occupied a position that was vital;
a blunder now meant sure destruction.” Since a mistake (blunder) would be disastrous, the position had to be important or vital.
2.
A. The completed sentence reads: “The foolproof poison was as colorless as water,
almost tasteless, quite imperceptible in coffee, milk, or any other beverage; further
it was untraceable during an autopsy.” What makes the poison foolproof is that it is
imperceptible—it cannot be perceived or noticed in a drink and it cannot be traced
in an autopsy. Remember that the prefixes im-, un-, and in- usually mean “not.”
3. D. The completed sentence reads: “She had had one great disappointment in life,
but we were never quite sure what it was, since it was alluded to only in whispers
and far-off looks, and so we all felt that it was important that she never be let
down again.” Since no one is sure what the disappointment is, it is never stated
outright. Instead, it is alluded to or hinted at in a soft voice, another word for
whispers.
4. E. The completed sentence reads: “Not wishing to marry, the girl discouraged the
proposals of each young man by stipulating that each suitor should present her
with his bank statements.” When you stipulate something, you set conditions. In
this case, the girl demands that each young man show her his bank statement.
A suitor is an admirer, someone who is trying to woo and win a lover.
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5. B. The completed sentence reads: “Concentrating on the weeds, the elderly lady
seemed very intent and remote, as through she were in another world.” When
used as an adjective, the word remote means “isolated or set apart.”
6. D. The completed sentence reads: “In spite of our misgivings, Rita continued down
the street and approached the odd-looking stranger, asking for directions to the
restaurant.” The clue words are the phrase “in spite of,” because it signals a shift
in thought. Even though Rita’s friends had misgivings or doubts, she nonetheless
approached the stranger by walking up to him or her and asking for directions.
7.
B. The completed sentence reads: “Although the town councilman had a well-deserved
reputation for reserve, at the information session that night he was so voluble that
everyone received a great deal of information about the proposed tax increase.” The
town councilman is reserved or quiet and close-mouthed. As a result, no one would
expect him to speak much. That’s why everyone is surprised that the councilman is
so voluble—that he talks so much. You can infer that voluble means “talkative” from
the context clue that everyone felt they had “received a great deal of information
about the proposed tax increase.” You can receive a lot of information only if someone communicates. In this instance, it’s easiest to communicate through words.
8. D. The completed sentence reads: “Someone who loves freedom has an antipathy
toward oppression and dictatorship.” Antipathy means “hostility,” so someone
who loves to be free would naturally be against that which restricts freedom:
oppression and dictatorship.
9. A. The completed sentence reads: “The expertise with which the flight attendant
soothed the passengers’ muttered concerns and calmed their outright panic at the
sudden acceleration showed her compassion and skill.” The flight attendant does
her job well; she has expertise, training and skill. Her compassion (tenderness) is
an important part of her expertise. Only choices A, B, and E offer words that
make sense in the first blank. When you look at the second blank, only choice A
makes sense.
When you encounter long sentence completion items such as this one, break
them into smaller parts. Use the punctuation, especially commas and semicolons,
as your guide for logical divisions.
10. E. The completed sentence reads: “The paucity of job opportunities in the current
job market disheartens prospective employees from trying to find a well-paying,
secure job.” The lack (paucity) of jobs disheartens (discourages) applicants.
11. A. The topic of this passage is pizza’s relative nutritional value, when compared to
other convenience foods. The author recognizes that people do not always have
the option of preparing home-cooked meals (choice E) as much as they might
want to. Thus, the author is suggesting we choose the best alternative—pizza—
from the array of available fast foods.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
12. E. The writer interrupts the narrative with the short sentence “Consider pizza” to
provide emphasis through sentence variety. Notice that many of the sentences in
this passage are long, especially at the end. By breaking the pattern with a twoword sentence, the writer draws attention to it. This is important because this
sentence is the main idea.
13. B. Recently, many Americans have learned that fast foods have a lot of salt and fat.
You can infer this from lines 3–5: “Unfortunately, in recent years Americans have
discovered that many of their favorite fast foods are empty calories with no nutrition. Cheeseburgers and fries are loaded with salt and fat.”
14. C. The implied main idea of this passage is that pizza is healthier for you than many
people think. You can infer this from the facts about pizza in the second half of
the passage: “Although it is usually lumped together with all the other ‘fast
foods’—burgers, fried chicken, hot dogs, and fries, pizza is not the same as these
foods. Pizza contains many of the vitamins and minerals that we need. This is especially true when the pizza is made with fresh ingredients: the crust provides us
with carbohydrates, an excellent low-calorie source of energy; the cheese and meat
provide our bodies with the building blocks of protein; and the tomatoes, herbs,
onions, and garlic supply us with vitamins and minerals.”
15. C. The 40 different species that belong to the family Delphinidae have been referred
to as all the following designations except shrimpers. The shrimpers are fishermen who catch shrimp; they are not themselves fish.
16. A. The main idea of the first paragraph is that people have trouble telling dolphins,
porpoises, and whales apart. This is especially clear in the last sentence of the first
paragraph: “Unfortunately, identifying them in their home in the sea is not easy, for
the main differences between members of the species is in their skeleton structure.”
17. E. According to the second paragraph, the largest dolphin ever measured was from
the Netherlands. This is directly stated in the sentence: “The largest [dolphin is]
. . . a 12.7 foot male from the Netherlands . . .”
18. E. As stated in the third paragraph, some dolphins follow shrimp boats because they
pick up the shrimp that the shrimp boats leave behind. This is stated in the sentence: “In some waters, the bottlenose have gotten in the habit of following
shrimp boats, eating what the shrimpers miss or throw away.” While some of the
other choices describe accurate statements about dolphins, they do not show the
cause-and-effect relationship required by the context.
19. B. In the opening lines, the speaker is critical of the indolent upper classes. Indolent
means “lazy.” You can infer that the speaker feels this way first from the lines:
“For, in a society where we make money the standard of everything, it is necessary to practice many crafts which are quite vain and superfluous, ministering
only to luxury and licentiousness.” Then you can add what you learn from this
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passage: “But suppose all those fellows who are not busied with unprofitable
crafts, as well as all the lazy and idle throng, any one of whom now consumes as
much of the fruits of other men’s labors as any two of the workingmen . . .”
20. A. As used in the first paragraph, licentiousness most nearly means “a disregard for
morals.” The writer argues that in his day, the lazy upper classes are concerned
with physical pleasure.
21. E. The phrase “any one of whom now consumes as much of the fruits of other
men’s labors as any two of the workingmen” refers to the “lazy and idle throng.”
The writer is criticizing upper-class people who live off the work of others.
22. D. The “unjust and ungrateful commonwealth” in the second paragraph refers to
the current system of government. The writer criticizes the government this way
because he feels that the political leaders have not corrected the inequity in the
distribution of wealth—or even taken any steps in that direction.
23. A. In the second paragraph, the speaker is biased toward the workingman. This is
evident when he says that common workers (“farmers, colliers, common laborers, carters, and carpenters”) keep the country running. Without these workers,
the writer says, “there would be no commonwealth at all.” He describes how the
common workers are discarded after they are no longer useful: “After it has misused the labor of their [the workers’] prime and after they are weighted down
with age and disease and are in utter want, it forgets all their sleepless night and
all the great benefits received at their hands and most ungratefully requites them
with a most miserable death.”
24. A. The tone of the last paragraph is best described as passionate and critical. You can
infer this from the passionate description of “evil men with insatiable greed” who
have “divided up among themselves all the goods which would have been enough
for all the people.” You can also infer the writer’s passionate tone from the emotional list of crimes: “fraud, theft, rapine, quarrels, disorders, brawls, seditions,
murders, treasons, poisonings.” These are all loaded words with strong negative
overtones. Finally, you can infer the passionate and critical tone from the “fear,
anxiety, worries, toils, and sleepless night” that torment the average worker.
25. B. The author would most likely agree with the phrase: “Money is the root of all
evil.” He blames greed and selfishness for society’s inequity and the workers’ sad
plight.
26. E. The author’s style is best described as formal and elevated. You can deduce this
from the long sentences with multiple clauses, formal diction (word choice), and
lack of contractions.
27. A. “Utopia” is the best title for this excerpt because the writer describes what he
thinks would make a perfect world: a lack of greed for money.
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
Section 3
1. A. According to passage 1, utilities have not helped their customers maximize savings
because the utilities have not invested in new technology. You can infer this from
the following passage from the first paragraph: “The opportunities for efficiency
improvements are myriad and potential savings real, but customers and utilities
have been slow to invest in the most cost-effective energy-efficient technologies
available.”
2. D. As stated in passage 1, the efficiency gap is caused not by a single factor but by a
combination of factors. You can deduce the answer from the following sentence:
“This efficiency gap has been attributed to a variety of market, institutional,
technical, and behavioral constraints.”
3. E. According to passage 1, energy-efficiency programs can realize savings for customers, utilities, and shareholders. To find the answer, return to the following
passage: “Utilities’ energy-efficiency programs promise savings for customers and
utilities, profits for shareholders, improvements in industrial productivity,
enhanced international competitiveness, and reduced environmental impact.”
4. C. Among the risks the first author cites for relying on greater energy efficiency are
fears that savings will not be real. The information comes from the following
passage: “But along with opportunities, greater reliance on energy efficiency as a
resource to meet future electricity needs also entails risks—that efficient technologies will not perform as well as promised, that anticipated savings will not be
truly cost effective in practice and benefits of energy-efficiency programs will not
be shared equally among utility customers.”
5. B. According to passage 1, electricity consumption is growing more quickly than
overall energy use. This comes from the following passage: “In 2002, utility power
generation accounted for 39 percent of total primary energy use in the United
States, and electricity consumption is growing faster than overall use.”
6. E. According to passage 1, construction of new power plants will be paid for by utility users. You can infer the answer from this passage: “Energy-efficiency advocates
have long maintained that it can be cheaper for rate payers and better for the environment and society to save energy rather than build new power plants.”
7. A. According to passage 1, more and more people are coming to believe that we
should conserve energy rather than erect new power plants. The answer can be
inferred from this passage: “Energy-efficiency advocates have long maintained
that it can be cheaper for rate payers and better for the environment and society
to save energy rather than build new power plants.”
8. B. As stated in passage 1, integrated resource planning and demand-side management programs are the most popular. The information comes from this passage:
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“More than thirty states have adopted integrated resource planning and demandside management programs, and programs are being developed rapidly in most
of the remaining states.”
9. D. Passage 1 was most likely written by an unbiased observer. You can infer this
because the writer reports the facts rather than using them to further a specific
thesis or argument.
10. C. The word shed in line 3 of passage 2 is used to mean “shine.” The sentence is: “I’d
like to shed a different type of light on this proposal.” It’s a clever pun on the
theme of light in this letter.
11. B. By acknowledging valid opposition early on, the writer strengthens his or her
argument by gaining credibility. This is one of the classic rhetorical strategies for
writing effective argumentative essays, as you learned in Part 6. Choice C (By presenting the other side, the writer shows that the opposing argument does not
have the slightest shred of legitimacy) doesn’t make sense. Choice E (Showing the
importance of street lights demonstrates the writer’s concern with keeping kids
safe) is incorrect because you cannot draw this conclusion from the facts presented. There is no textual proof for choices A and D.
12. A. You can infer from passage 2 that the writer has studied this issue very carefully
and has a firm grasp on the facts. This is evident from the specific statistics the
writer cites in the next-to-last paragraph.
13. D. Unlike passage 1, passage 2 is written from the first-person point of view and has
a strong argument to propose. Note that the writer uses I, the first-person pronoun. This is not the case in passage 1, which is written from the third-person
point of view. As noted in the answer to question 9, the first passage was written
by an unbiased observer. The other choices are not supported in the passage.
14. C. The authors of these two passages would most likely agree that people should
rethink the way they use energy. Passage 1 notes that “More than thirty states have
adopted integrated resource planning and demand-side management programs,
and programs are being developed rapidly in most of the remaining states.” Passage
2 argues outright that we should use less outdoor artificial illumination at night.
Section 4
“A classic is a book that. . . .”
Assignment: Complete this statement with an example from literature, history,
or your own experience. Using the completed statement, write a well-organized
essay in which you explain what you think makes a book a “classic.”
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
The following model essay would receive a 6, the highest score, for its specific details, organization, and style (appropriate word choice, sentence structure, and consistent facility in the use of
language).
Nonfiction as well as fiction can become a classic, of course, but for our purposes here,
I’m just going to deal with fiction. What makes a novel, short story, or epic a classic is its
relevance to reality. Someone who creates a classic novel must deal with the conflict at the
heart of a narrative in a realistic way that shows the human spirit at work. In the end of the
book, it doesn’t matter if the conflict is won or lost; rather, what matters is our ability to
identify with the conflict. Classics can improve our lives and help ease us over the rough
patches by getting us to relate to the tribulations of the characters they portray. In addition,
a classic must leave readers with a strong sense of emotion, whether it’s sadness, joy, sorrow,
or even regret. The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, is a classic because it fits these
criteria.
Like the main character, Holden Caufield, almost everyone has felt alienated at one point
or another in their lives. Salinger’s portrait of a lost youth struggling to find his place in the
world is both realistic and wrenching. Readers really get a sense of Holden’s feelings, especially his lingering grief at his brother Allie’s death and his paralyzing fear of growing up.
When Holden is upset, as when he loses the fencing foils during the meet, he adopts a pose
of false bravado, attempting to appear “cool” and unconcerned. This is the classic teenage
pose. When my friends and I feel lost or embarrassed, we often retreat into the same shell.
It’s not our fault, we mutter. It’s all the fault of a “phony,” corrupt world that doesn’t understand us. As the conflict builds to its climax, we see Holden start to realize that he can’t stay
a child forever and thus hide from the adult world. The novel’s ending is ambiguous,
because readers don’t know how much Holden will be able to manage after his breakdown.
But this ambiguity doesn’t matter because we have sympathized with Holden’s pain and
cheered his victory over much of it. At the end of the novel we feel hope, because Holden’s
example has lighted the way for us.
The Odyssey by Homer is also a classic, one that few would dispute has earned its place
in the literary hall of fame. This epic shows the strength of the human spirit in overcoming
seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Separated from his home and family, Odysseus must
struggle through a series of perilous trials to return home. Odysseus draws on his indomitable
will, keen intelligence, and heroic nature, whether he’s dealing with the bloodthirsty Cyclops
or the seductive Sirens. As humans, we identify with Odysseus because we like to think that
we, too, would prove to be heroic if placed in danger. When Odysseus returns home after
ten long years, regains his kingdom, and banishes his wife Penelope’s suitors, we cheer. If
Odysseus can overcome these trials, we can overcome the problems that beset us.
We should read classics because they show us things about ourselves that can help us
deal with our reality—no matter how different it may seem from the reality of the novel.
Of course few of us are wealthy prep school boys and fewer still are epic heroes, but that
doesn’t stop us from identifying with the problems these characters face and learning from
their mistakes and triumphs. Besides, classics are great reads. And what could be more fun
than a good read!
Section 5
1. B. Use the superlative degree (most) to show the comparison is among more than
two objects or instances, which is the case here. The corrected sentence reads:
“Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the most dramatic and famous of all
maritime disasters occurred, the sinking of the Titanic.”
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2. D. The last phrase—“food service that was elaborate”—is not parallel (in the same
grammatical form) as the other two phrases in the sentence—“beautifully
decorated rooms” and “glittering crystal chandeliers.” The corrected sentence
reads: “The new hotel is the most luxurious lodge ever built, with its beautifully decorated rooms, glittering crystal chandeliers, and elaborate food
service.”
3. A. Kept is the correct past participle for to keep. The principal part comes after a
helping verb, such as had, is, are, was, were, had been, would have been. The correct sentence reads: “The color barrier that had kept major league sports whiteonly did not fall in baseball until 1947.”
4. E. This sentence is correct as written.
5. B. Unless the speaker is not known or you wish to avoid assigning blame (for example, “A mistake was made,”) use the active voice rather than the passive voice. In
the active voice, the subject is the doer of the action (“the Celtics won the NBA
championship”). In the passive voice, in contrast, the action is done to the subject
(“The NBA championship was won by the Celtics”). The active voice is considered more vigorous, clear, and succinct than the passive voice. The complete corrected sentence reads: “In 1968 and 1969, the Celtics won the NBA
championship, with Russell as player-coach.”
6. C. The sentence has a mistake in adjective and adverb use. Adverbs modify
(describe) verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Therefore, use the adverb unbelievably rather than the adjective unbelievable to modify the adjective large. The
phrase looks like this:
unbelievably
large
capacity
↑
↑
↑
adverb
adjective
noun
The correct sentence reads: “It’s true that many overweight people claim to have
an unbelievably large capacity for food, but scientists have yet to locate a gene
responsible for appetite regulation.”
7. A. The mistake is in verb use. The sentence requires “has placed” rather than “had
placed” because the sentence is in the present tense. The correct sentence reads:
“Today’s highly technological society has placed an overwhelming abundance of
pleasures at our fingertips.”
8. B. Use verbs consistently. Since the sentence begins in the past tense (planted), do
not switch to the present (eats). The correct sentence reads: “In the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, the average Irish citizen planted potatoes and ate about
10 pounds of potatoes a day—and little else.”
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
9. B. The sentence contains a double negative: “hardly nothing.” The correct sentence
reads: “Consider immigrants who come to this country with hardly anything yet
succeed in learning English, obtaining jobs, and supporting their families.”
10. C. There are two complete sentences here. The first sentence is: “A temporary
worker may be hired for a week, a month, or a few months.” The second sentence
is: “There is no guarantee of continued employment.” When they are incorrectly
joined, they become a run-on sentence. Remember that you can correct a run-on
sentence in one of three ways:
• Separate the run-on sentence into two sentences with a period.
• Add a comma and a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
• Add a semicolon.
Only choice C correctly joins the two sentences. Choice D requires a comma
between the sentence and the coordinating conjunction. Choice E makes no
sense with the conjunction for. The correct sentence reads: “A temporary worker
may be hired for a week, a month, or a few months; there is no guarantee of continued employment.”
11. C. As written, this is a type of run-on sentence called a “comma splice.” Removing
the comma (choice B) does not correct the run-on sentence. The revision shown
in choice C is best because it eliminates the wordiness and expresses the idea
most clearly. The revised sentence reads: “A new language can come into being as
a pidgin, a makeshift jargon containing words of various languages and little in
the way of grammar.”
12. E. The error is in the case of pronouns. Luis is doing the action (giving a year’s subscription), so Luis is the subject. My sister and the speaker are receiving the
action, so they are in the objective case: “my sister and me.” The correct sentence
reads: “Because I am interested in nutrition, I am glad that Luis gave my sister
and me a year’s subscription to a health and fitness magazine.” You may wish to
read the sentence with the plural pronoun to help you “hear” the correct version:
“Because I am interested in nutrition, I am glad that Luis gave us a year’s subscription to a health and fitness magazine.” Choices B and C are incorrect because
the speaker is always named last (“my sister and I, “not” I and my sister”).
13. B. The phrase is in the passive voice and would be better in the active voice. In general, unless the speaker is not known or you wish to avoid assigning blame (“A
mistake was made”) use the active voice rather than the passive voice. In the
active voice, the subject is the doer of the action (“I hit the ball”). In the passive
voice, in contrast, the action is done to the subject (“The ball was hit by me”).
The active voice is considered more vigorous, clear, and succinct. Only choice B is
in the active voice.
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14. B. The mistake is in parallel structure, matching sentence parts. The phrase “Our
ancestors had to plant and were cultivating their own foods” should read: “Our
ancestors had to plant and to cultivate their own foods.” This creates parallel
infinitive phrases (“to plant” and “to cultivate”). The corrected sentence reads:
“Our ancestors had to plant and to cultivate their own foods, but since we can
just drive to the local supermarket or restaurant and pick what we want, we often
eat too much.”
15. D. The correct phrase is “since” or “because,” never “being that.” The corrected sentence reads: “Since the iceberg ruptured 5 of the 16 watertight compartments, the
ship sunk into the icy waters of the North Atlantic.”
16. D. “Rushing up the stairs of the museum, the tomb of the Egyptian king was seen”
is a dangling construction because it has nothing to modify. Correct a dangling
construction by providing a noun or pronoun to which the dangling construction can be attached, as in choice D.
17. B. As written, this is a run-on sentence, two sentences incorrectly joined. Adding the
subordinating conjunction because correctly subordinates the second clause
(“there was nothing to fatten it on”) to the first clause (“It meant that the pig or
cow that would usually have been sold to pay the rent had to be slaughtered”).
Add a comma before a coordinating or subordinating conjunction. The correct
sentence reads: “It meant that the pig or cow that would usually have been sold to
pay the rent had to be slaughtered, because there was nothing to fatten it on.”
18. C. This part of the sentence is a misplaced modifier. Obviously, the iceberg did not
pass through the porthole. The phrase “through the porthole” modifies “caught
sight of ” and should be placed nearer to it, rather than next to passing. The correct sentence reads: “Looking through the porthole, the captain caught sight of
the iceberg passing by, but by then it was too late to alter the course.”
19. A. This sentence is correct as written.
20. D. Choice D is best because it eliminates the unnecessary words to create a concise
and logical sentence. The revised sentence reads: “Everyone is interested in solar
energy now because the fuels we use are very expensive, and the supply of these
fuels is shrinking every day.” Choice B is a run-on sentence; choice C is a comma
splice. Choice E creates an awkward sentence.
21. A. Choice A follows the previous two sentences by describing the shortage of
fossil fuels. None of the other sentences makes sense in context, although each
is true.
22. B. The best version is choice B. “Before you learn how the sun can provide heat for
buildings, there are a few facts about your home’s heating system that you
PART 7: Two Sample Verbal SAT Tests for Practice
should know.” Subordinating the first clause (“You should learn how the sun can
provide heat for buildings”) to the second clause (“there are a few facts about
your home’s heating system that you should know”) creates logic by showing the
relationship between ideas. Choice C is a run-on sentence. Largely because it is
in the passive voice, choice D is wordy and awkward. Choice E has an incorrect
verb form (be providing).
23. B. The thermostat signals the furnace to send more or less heat. None of the other
choices makes sense in context.
24. D. A paragraph about the advantages of solar energy fits best with the opening sentence: Everyone is interested in solar energy now. Further, the writer has not yet
explained why consumers should support solar energy.
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